A Long Way Gone Critique - Essay Example

?Answer Writing helps a person to express his hidden emotions and feelings in a way which can later help him to overcome his weaknesses and to correct the weak areas in his life. As Beah stated that writing song lyrics helped him to overcome the good time he lost before coming into the war. He had a sorrow of losing his precious childhood and his home in a very early age due to war and moreover, his induction as a soldier and later being addicted to drugs all contributed together in making him feel bad about himself. He needed space in his life; a gateway through which he can let his inner feelings vent out. Writing is a kind of therapy that works well for many people who want to overcome the brutality of their past. It is like talking to someone and expressing your inner feelings to someone who cannot speak but can hear and feel your sorrows. Writing is a medium of expression. It encourages healthy thinking and sometimes, writing helps you to understand and analyze your problems in an organized manner. It helps you to overcome the weak areas of in your life which make you feel bad as in case of Beah; he regrets being turned into a violent machine, a soldier and later, taking drugs had been the darkest period of his life which he wanted the world to know through his medium of expression; as a songwriter. However, in my case, I personally think that personal writing has helped me in overcoming different problems in my life. I have a habit of writing the major events that influence me greatly in my personal diary. I make notes of how I responded under that specific condition with what behavior. I analyze if my behavior was appropriate or not? Did that help me? For example, if I get angry on someone or if someone hurts me, I write it down in my diary and later, after hours of writing it, I read and analyze where I did wrong? What were the causes behind that incident? And was my behavior appropriate in that condition? Once I figure that out, I try doing my corrections first. It is way through which I prefer doing my personal re-conditioning of self and thoughts. Answer 2: I personally agree with the statement of Ishmael Beah that every person can create a huge difference in the lives of other individuals. We can either infuse goodness in the minds of other people or we can corrupt their thinking. Interaction and communication are important factors that help an individual to be productive in the lives of other people. We can help them to be better humans by correcting themselves. Ishmael Beah was among those kids who were sent to fight war without being told about what is right and what is wrong. Eventually, they all ended up in misery. However, with the efforts of the people at the rehabilitation center, he learned how people can make differences in other person’s life. He learnt the art of living which was in the kind help of other individuals without any discrimination on the basis of religion, race, cast, color and social status. I personally believe that as a human I am responsible to create difference in the lives of other individuals. It is not important how big or small you do, but it is important that whatever good you do in the lives of other individuals should reflect the purity of your intentions. Intentions play a key role in making us responsible good human who is determined to help other individuals in a positive way. I certainly believe that our actions reflect our thinking; one person can create a huge difference in resolving conflicts between the people and the nations. For example, our actions have a domino-effect. If we would utter hate speech, the result would be hate. However, on the other hand, if we would favor the person on righteous stance with a just behavior, would definitely result in peace and long-lasting harmony. As a student, I would help other students on the campus on how to be tolerant with people from other cultural backgrounds. I would also help them to develop a positive approach towards other people outside the campus. I would discuss the global problems with them and would surely try my best to establish a group who can start gathering funds for those unprivileged people who are deprived of basic needs of life. Answer 3: We should regard memoir as truth because it is based on the horrific experiences of a twelve-year old child and even if we do not regard the accuracy of the facts being told by the little boy, we still cannot undermine the hardships and struggle, he had to bear in his journey; from a safe village to a battle ground and finally making up his way to the rehabilitation center without the support of his family and friends. If we think that the documented information is not accurate, still we can analyze it as a lesson which can help us to understand and overcome the problems of our lives. Anyone can relate the story to his own self at some extent. As a student, I would analyze that how this story has affected me; positively or negatively? I would read the highlighted information related to war and induction of children as soldiers and then their drug addiction as a serious matters as this practice is common in some parts of Africa. I would take the information as a story of a child from Africa who struggled hard for his existence. Developing a critical approach to understand the subject matter is imperative for every student. I would critically analyze the text to help me understand the events that can really happen to a child in real and those which have the chances of being fabricated. However, I personally believe that the information and the events are based on true events as child soldiers and their abuse is a common practice in African countries. Answer 4: The book has described that how Beah had to suffer in isolation and to struggle hard for his survival under those hard circumstances. After reading the book, I believe that war is not the ultimate solution to resolve conflicts among the nations or between the groups. Wars can drastically change the human lives which are always negative. No war has ever done anything positive to anyone. It can dismember the structure of the society while making a negative impact on human psychology as well as war can damage the entire economic structure of a society. America’s war against terror in Afghanistan and Iraq is an evident example of how this war has changed the lives of many people in America and in the respective countries. People have lost their families along with their properties as well as it has left them in utter psychological disorder. Only the one who suffers the gravity of the situation can understand the impact of war. If I would be forced to fight in a war against my will, I would feel it complete inhumane. For me, killing one person would be equal to killing the entire humanity. I would not favor my involvement in any kind of war; resistance would be a better option. As I know, involvement in any kind of war would affect my future which would label me as a ‘human-killer’. It would not yield any positivity or betterment for my generations; so I would try to refrain from anything that would negatively affect me, my society, my family and all humans, at large. Answer 9: The issues as highlighted by Beah are very much relevant to the life of a college student. As a college student, I am faced with the isolation and the struggle to survive under such circumstances where sometimes I feel the need of my family and friends as well as the support to accomplish my goals in a better way. I personally believe that war in Africa or in other parts of the world should come to an end. They are doing no good to the humanity. We are standing at the point where we need constant guidance, love, support and kindness from one another. These wars are eliminating humanity and kindness from the planet. They are leaving their grave impacts on human psychology, social structure and economy. I believe that war is nothing but an organized way to destruct humanity and to eliminate ethical and moral values out of the society. After reading, A Long Way Gone, I have come to the conclusion that world is faced with differences that are man-made which are ultimately leading all of us to the verge of destruction. We need to help each other in order to make this world a better place to live and survive. After reading the book, I have viewed world as a place where one can do anything to fulfill his objectives at the cost of other people’s lives. We need to become positive yet encouraging role models for new generation to learn the lessons of kindness and good deeds and to make them learn that how they can seek their ways without getting into war as it is not a solution to attain one’s objectives. Works Cited Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Sarah Crichton Books, 2006. Print. Read More