"A Long Way Gone''
By Ishmael Beah
Quote ( Chapter 14, pg.124)
"I had my gun now, and as the corporal always said, "This gun is your source of power in these times. It will protect you and provide you all you need, if you know how to use it well."
Importance of the quote
The reason that we chose the said quote, is that it shows how young Ishmael was taught to act while serving for the army, and what he had seen while fighting in a civil war against the rebels. In Chapter 2 pg. 18, young Ishmael is forced to take a deceased human body to a cemetery, on his way to the cemetery, Ishmael encounters civilians that have been dismembered, dark pools of blood forming from piles of bodies scattered throughout the streets, and brain matter that was dripping from the noses of the deceased. For a young child, these images could have been traumatizing for Ishmael, and throughout the beginning of the story he is troubled by P.T.S.D which brings back horrific images of what he has done in war.
African army gun training exercise