A long way gone

1) How did Ishmael Beah’s grandmother explain the local adage that “we must strive to be like the moon” (p16)? Why has Ishmael remembered this saying since childhood? What does it mean to him ? The grandmother’s explanation to the adage was that it served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others. He has remembered this saying since childhood because he believed that plenty of happy things happened when the moon shines and when he was a child he would watch the moon and would see different shapes in the moon. Also, he says he has a photographic memory. This saying means a lot to him because he says he sees the same shapes he saw when he was six, no matter how old he gets or how far he travels. He is pleased that at least that part of his childhood is still in him. 2) As Chapter 2 begins, we flash forward to Ishmael’s new life in New York City. He relates a dream of pushing a wheelbarrow. What is in the wheelbarrow, and where is he pushing it? What does he mean when he says, “I am looking at my own?” (p19)

In the wheelbarrow Ishmael Beah is pushing is a dead body wrapped in white sheets. He says “I am looking at my own” because it is a dream and he is looking at his own body. 3) “That night for the first time in my life,” writes Ishmael, “I realized that it is the physical presence of people and their spirits that gives a town life.” (p22) What prompts him to observe this? How old is he at the time? Also, who are the five boys with whom he flees?

He is prompted to observe that because he notices many people were missing and they were all mostly hiding in the forest bushes. Beah also states that the town becomes very scary, dark and silent. Ishmael Beah is twelve at this time. The five boys he flees with are his brother, Junior, and his friends, Talloi, Kaloko, Gibrilla, and Khalilou.

4) Why, after their escape, do Ishmael and the other boys sneak back into the village of Mattru Jong?