A Long Way Gone- Title Goes Here
Survival-Main Topic of What Book is About Goes Here
Theme
People will do anything to survive, even if it means facing even more danger.
Child Soldier
Ismael Beah was conscripted into his government's army at the age of 13 after running from the terrors of the rebel army for a year.
Life before the war
He was a normal, happy-go-lucky boy who could recite rap and Shakespearean poetry by heart.
Starvation a daily reality
Starvation and exhaustion became a daily reality when he ran in fear from village to village trying to escape the brutality of the rebel army.
"We were so hungry that it hurt to drink water and we felt cramps in our guts. It was as though something were eating the insides of our stomachs. Our lips became parched and our joints weakened and ached."
"My squad was my family, my gun my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed."
Survive or die: Ismael and the other boys did not have the time to think about anything other than making it out alive.
Skillet - "Not Gonna Die" (Lyric Video)
127 HOURS - Full Length Official Trailer HD
This movie shows what lengths one man goes through to survive.
Both the movie and the novel share themes. Both stories show that humans will do anything it takes to survive. For example, in the movie, he spends hours and hours sawing through his own flesh in order to free himself from the rock that has him trapped. He is unwilling to die after a solo climbing accident, so he uses every means necessary to escape the rock that has him trapped where he will surely perish. In the novel, the boys do whatever it takes to keep on going including stealing corn from a small child just to avoid starvation. Even though these characters wouldn't normally have done such extreme acts, they did because humans will do anything to stay alive.
A situation that people in both the article and the novel face is trying to survive a civil war.
In the article, one interviewee said, “Life was always hard here, but it just got harder." This quote illustrates that the Syrian refugees are facing hard times this winter because of a mix-up with aid funding for their food supply. Millions of people who have already endured hardships during the civil war will now struggle to make it through this winter without starving. The boys in the novel faced the same hardships as they ran from village to village trying to escape the rebels during Sierra Leone's civil war. They frequently only focused on trying to find food to survive and at times turned back to walk toward a rebel controlled village only because they were familiar with how to scavenge for food in that village.