Post 6/Week6

On page 212, Beah writes, “It sickened me to see that Sierra Leoneans asked money from those who had come from the war. They were benefiting from people who were running for their lives.” I think people are exploiting one another rather than supporting because it's basically every man for himself. Especially in a situation as drastic as this. One thing I can collect from many readings so far this year in Flex is that you have to be selfish to survive. I even remember the Occupy Detroit opposing viewpoint presenter mentioning that. And he said that in terms of America, imagine what he would say regarding a Sierra Leonean. 

The ending of the book is with a story about a monkey. It intrigued me, and Ishmael's answer really warmed my heart. I think the monkey story at the end of the book was to show the balances between good and bad. The war relates to this because people are fighting in the civil war, but there is hope for the children who haven't yet passed away. I think Ishmael wants us to feel better about everything, so he gave us a burst of hope to end the book.

Week 5/Post 5

In this book, Ishmael continuously brings up memories of his family, how he wishes they are doing well and are safe. Then, he gets put into the army for his country (not the rebels) and things drastically change. Ishmael changes the way he views things, and he turns into a completely different person. “My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed. . . . and it seemed as if my heart had frozen” (p. 126). Here is a prime example of how he changes what he relys on and what he considers protection and love. Ishmael gets sent out of the army, and he feels incredibly awful about it. He feels like he was then denied the 'brotherhood'. He lost his family....again. luckily, he is tested in the UNICEF facility. ishmael continues to challenge the idea of family. he has experienced different families. His parents and siblings to addiction to drugs, and the brotherhood. 

On page 128, the soldiers start singing the Sierra Leone national anthem. The words Beah reprints are “High we exalt thee, realm of the free, great is the love we have for thee…” I think Ishmael includes this part in the book because he thinks he is fighting the rebels for freedom. All countries have been through an identity crisis, searching for it's freedom. What it means to be free in his country is completely different than what it means to be free in another. Before the war in Sierra Leone, it seemed that people were happy, getting education, learning languages, etc. it seemed that they had a good chance at oppurtunity. I would consider this a part of freedom that we get in the United States as well. I would say that a coutry going through war has an altered version of freedom. Everything is distorted and changed in the regular citizen life, especially the civil war Ishmael Beah experienced. Most people weren't as lucky as him. 

Post 4/Week 4

On page 70, Saidu, one of the boys says, “How many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety?” He goes on to say, “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even thought I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am.” The old saying is that that which does not kill us makes us stronger. There are many things that can end up killing you slowly rather than building up strength. To me, it depends on how you view every situation that is presented to you. When you think awful things, then the results of your actions and behaviors and attitudes will alter permimently. it's important to remember why Saidu said that, it's only going to get harder for him and his friends. ifeel awful for them, they will barely be able to recover from what they have seen. There are definitely things that people will go throught that have to potential to either make them stronger or let it get to them. People need other people to help them through things like that, where Saidu barely talked, no one in the group ever really communicated. 

Post 3/Week 3

On page 37, Beah writes, “This was one of the consequences of the civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy.” I know why people would think that, the corruption of their country is very prominent here. It's hard for people to think much of the human race when so many bad things are happening around them. Putting faith in things can be hard, especially if your child has been kidnapped, or you watched your town get burnt down. I can relate to when my cousin was dying of brain cancer. Priests would visit him, everyone said they were praying, but Guy died anyway. I lost all my faith, how could something happen like that to someone who doesn't deserve it at all? In my life, I have felt like I couldn't trust anybody. It's hard to feel like that, but I have never felt to to the extent where I couldn't trust anyone in my entire country. It's hard to trust strangers, naturally (I would say) from the beginning, anyways.

Post 2/Week 2

As a group, we started reading A Long Way Gone, where Ishmael starts his story. During his traumas, what Ishmael turns to are his memories. He goes over and pictures what his family is doing at that moment, hoping they are okay. He also askes himself question about what his father would say, and seeing certain things and people remind him of that. Then, he tells us a story about his grandmother. He says that it is good to know his childhood is still a part of him.
That hit me hard, mostly because I couldn't imagine having so many bad things happening around me, and the only good thing being the memories I have from before. He was still a child even when he was going through those experiences. He had to grow up extremely fast.

During hard times of my own, what I do to console myself is around the same thing as Ishmael. I go over things that make me happy, trying to forget the awful things around me. Of course, it's nothing as bad as what Ishmael went through, but relating to him is not that difficult. I feel horrible for him and the other thousands of children who could have had it worse than him.

Post 1/Week 1

In class we watched a documentary called Solider Child, it was released in 1998. During the documentary, I was in complete shock. I couldn't believe any of the stories that were presented. One specific story that stood out to me, I don't remember the exact details but the commander had cut off a civilians foot and made the wife eat it. I don't know why, but that story really bothered me. 

I really felt sad for the children, and what they had gone through at such a young age. I could never imagine going through that. What if that happened to your own child? It also got me thinking about how fortunate I am to have been not been  in any situation similar to that. It made me thankful for my life. I also thought it was very interesting was how the children go through their therapy. They draw their experiences and the adults help them work through them. I liked that, I had never heard of it before.