Ishmael Beah Survival Analysis

This paper will argue that in the pursuance of survival the protagonist, Ishmael Beah, must cope with and adapt to the desolate world around him. It takes strength mentally and physically to survive, carry on through hardships, yet it requires beyond this to live, purse a lifestyle, during the war. Conforming to the war that surrounds him Ishmael is choosing to do more than simply survive he is choosing to live as he does the necessary requirements to ensure his body and soul live on. Ishmael’s unconscious goal of living rather than surviving is exhibited through his conformity to his war torn country that surrounds him. Ishmael adapts to life as a child soldier via guns and drugs as a means of survival. Living without his family, Ishmael encourages himself to adapt the war-flawed country by grasping onto memories of the past and thoughts of being reconnected with his family once again. Ishmael experiences situations that he has to acclimatize in order to keep his soul alive. Joining the rebel group, Ishmael receives an opportunity of physical survival yet this accompanies adapting to the cruel reality of guns, drugs and murder to survive the
The soul is defined as the principle of life, feeling, thought and action of a person; it is regarded as a distinct entity that is separate from the body thus, the soul must survive on its own since it is a separate entity (Dictionary.com). Coping with the idea that each day is undetermined, surviving each day becomes the goal in Ishmael’s life.
“One of the unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically and emotionally, was that I wasn’t sure when or where it was going to end. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I felt that was starting over and over again. I was always on the move, always going somewhere”
(Beah,