A Long Way Gone

Violence in A Long Way Gone In the novel, A Long Way Gone, there were a lot of acts of violence that revolved around the main character, Ishmael Beah. Much of this violence was similar to the violence in chapter 11 of How To Read Literature Like a Professor. The many types of violence in this book have different functions. The second book explains the functions, symbolical meaning, and types of violence. Violence can have a symbolic or thematic function. It shows us that violence lurks in everyday tasks and that violence is always metaphorical. There are two types of violence: injury and narrative. Injury violence is when authors cause characters to harm others. Narrative violence is the general harm of characters. The characters do nothing to cause this violence. Injury violence occurs throughout the entirety of the novel. The rebel forces attacked Ishmael's town and killed most of the civilians. An example of narrative violence is when Ishmael's uncle died from a disease. The author includes this violence to spur action, cause plot complications, and trigger stress in other characters. When the rebels attacked Ishmael's village he was separated from the rest of his family. It was up to Ishmael to decide whether he wanted to risk his life to search for his family or if he wanted to flee for safety. Later in the novel Ishmael and his group of stay in a village. The village is attacked, but Ishmael is able to escape just in time. However he has also lost his friends in all the commotion. He spends five days searching for his basic needs. During this time he also faces other struggles such as hunger, thirst, boredom, and pain. This causes the plot complications. At the end of the novel, Ishmael must escape the country into Guinea for freedom. He needs to board a bus with his passport. As he is nearing the border he sees a group of men with heavy gun power patrolling the border. He starts to freak out over every possibility. He tries to think of what would happen to him. He doubts that he will actually be able to find shelter. He even thinks about turning back. The fact that he saw the men with guns, Ishmael became overwhelmed with stress. One of the major themes in the novel was the loss of innocence. This was due to the fact of the violence surrounding Ishmael. The only thing that he would have to keep him innocent are his childhood memories. The violent pursuit of the rebels cause him to become a killer. The author stops mentioning flashbacks because it is very difficult for him to remember. HIs experiences in the war ultimately end up stripping him of his childhood and innocence. Ishmael Beah used the concepts from chapter 11 of How To Read Literature Like A Professor to write about the violence that went on during the war. Violence was a main part in this book and affected the theme and plot.