Dehumanization is a huge issue in 1933 and still is today. It is an act of inhumanity and cruelty. A boy by the name of Ishmael Beah, age 13, describes his dangerous and courageous story as a child soldier in the middle of a civil war in Sierra Leone. As a result of dehumanization, children are forced to give up their childhood, freedom and innocence to fight in a war that is not theirs to fight in. In telling his story, Ishmael describes the overall brutality to children, the insanity of the rebels and the ruthlessness of the Sierra Leone government.
For example in “Destroying Avalon” Avalon had to face the death of her best friend Marshall who took his own life because of being bullied for so many years and not letting anyone to support him through his tough times. “Marshall is dead” was repeated in the book to emphasize the feeling of grief Avalon faced. In “The Colour Purple” death and loss is shown when both Celie’s children are taken away from her at birth and is given the impression that they where killed. Bullying occurs the day you are born by society determining colours, interest and behaviours that suit the type of gender you are. However bullying doesn’t really show it’s self until we go to school, this style of bullying can be verbal, physical or electronic.
What are the effects on Ishmael from being a boy soldier? Well my belief is that he became cold from all the fighting and blood shed he has seen as a boy soldier. In the book, A Long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael said “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.
The disaster and devastation, emotional exile and the search for an ending are all the reasons to why Bassam has to leave his homeland. Bassam is surrounded by devastation and disaster everyday due to the civil war. This disaster begins to weigh on a person’s point of view as well as their behaviour towards others within their life and community. Bassam describes the way his neighbourhood has fallen apart due to the bombs: “Heat descended, bombs landed, and thugs jumped the long lines for bread, stole the food of the weak, bullied the baker and caressed his daughter. Thugs never waited in line” (12).
The entire story is a constant reminder of the true horror that young soldiers on every side of the fight face each and every moment while at war. Many of the main characters in the book are relatively young and enlist under the assumption that war is glorious or rather something to do. They see it as many who have never served paint it out to be, as a heroic adventure that is meant to make men out of boys. However, it doesn’t take long for the boys to find out just how nightmarish it is to fear for your life every last waking second. Everyone is dealing with death on
Additionally, the novel continues to tell the story of Okonkwo and his family. Towards the middle of the novel his attitude continues to cause him problems. His actions cause his and his family’s life to alter. In chapter thirteen of the novel it states, “Okwonko’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart.” It continues to say, “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan.” During a ceremony an unexpected turn of events causes Okonkwo and his family to be exiled. Due to his personality
The Kite Runner Novel and Movie Comparison “The Kite Runner” tells a story about a boy named Amir and a Hazara boy named Hassan. Hazaras are discriminated in Afghanistan, so Hassan was always looked down upon. Hassan was raped later, and Amir who witnessed it ran away from the scene, which became his biggest regret in his life. Years later, Amir started his new life in America, but his sins eventually came back to his life again and set him off to his homeland to an adventure of finding Hassan’s son and brings him back to America. Both the novel and movie were exceptional.
Child Soldiers in Uganda The Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel war group in Uganda, is a major part of the ongoing twenty-year war and is responsible for abducting and brainwashing children to become sufficient killing machines. These actions have left people disheveled and worrisome for their children. Parents with children in Uganda live in government camps ridden with disease, poverty and starvation to avoid attacks from the Lords Resistance Army and hope that their children won’t be abducted. Parents with abducted children hope for their children to return, but these children now have a new family. If abducted children are able to manage a successful escape, they tend to have a hard time living as a part of the community again.
“Small Adults: The Effects of War on Children” Imagine seeing your parents shot to death or having to run for safety to a foreign land. Imagine stepping over dead bodies and limbs to go to the grocery store or visit your friends. Imagine crying your self to sleep every night and hating the world so much you wished you were dead. These are daily thoughts and activities faced by children raised in a warring nation. Children raised in warring nations have to grow up faster and are often early orphaned, maimed, and become accustom to violence.
The Lynching is about the hanging of a man unjustly and how his body was burnt and left hanging for all to see. In this poem the children playing was a very important part, as they were the ones left viewing the hanging body. This is where oral history would come in as because they are young the story would be passed on for generations. This poem also gives light os a father figure, both biologically and heavenly. The poem shows the strength the person that died and the pain he or she had to go through.