Ishmael Beah: Beacon of Hope Essay

How does one contribute to America, if there personality is completely altered? In the autobiography by Ishmael Beah, he explains his experience as a refugee fighter in the civil war taking place in Sierra Leone. Through his many trials and tribulations he contributes to America by being a symbol of hope and prosperity, from his starts in the Sierra Leone to his end in New York City.
Beah, throughout the book speaks about all the evil things that the army has made him go through such as shooting other innocent people and learning war routines through the movie “Rambo”.   Not many people can wake up every morning and say that they have lived the life of Ishmael Beah, but when you realize that all he was doing the whole time was hoping for a change, you know you can relate. Even when Beah was brainwashed by the rebel soldiers, he knew (even though it was faint) that one day that things would get better.   When you’re in a situation like that you really have two forms of relief, suicide or a stroke of God. If it had not been for the hope and the faith that he kept harboring inside of him, he probably would have resorted to suicide.
Though Beah’s contribution to America is nothing tangible, it is something that holds a lot of weight. Do you think that the people of Jamestown would have survived if it weren’t for hope (and John Smith)?   An example of this is when all of Beah’s friends are lost and he still does not know the status of his family and he just looks out at the river. When he does this, he gets a sense of self and calms down a little.   Not only did he have hope go through with him to get out alive, but at the beginning of the book when he is separated from his family, he (along with his brother) used his hope and faith for his parents to be alive and for them to be reunited together again.
You see, the problem with people these days is that we already have everything handed to us on a silver platter. So when we hear stories such as Beah’s we have to...