A Long Way Gone
By Ishmael Beah
Internal Characterization
"...walked two days without sleeping... stopped only at streams for water... felt like somebody was after me... scare me and cause me to run for miles"(Beah 49). This shows how Ishmael was having a very hard time where he was at. Ishmael has to stop and try to survive where ever he is going.
Historical Connection
Vocabulary Words
1. Scabbard - "The younger rebel raised my head with its bayonet, still in its scabbard"(Beah 31). Scabbard means a sheath for the blade of a sword or dagger, typically made of leather or metal.
2. Verandah - "We say on the floor of the verandah of one of the houses"(Beah 39). Verandah means a roofed platform along the outside of a house, level with the ground floor.
Conflicts
1. "We were so hungry that it hurt to drink water and we felt cramps in our guts"(Beah 30). This quote describes how Ishmael's group was suffering because they had low amounts of resources.
2. "The attack happened unexpectedly one night. There hadn't even been any rumors that the rebels were as close as fifty miles from Kamator. They just walked into the village from out of nowhere"(Beah 44). The Rebels had surprised the village and threw every body off guard. They had attacked and it was bad.
Setting
"I walked for two days straight without sleeping. I stopped only at streams to drink water. I felt as if somebody was after me. Often, mu shadow would scare me and cause me to run for mines. Everything felt awkwardly brutal. Even the air seemed to want to attack me and break my neck"(Beah 49). This shows where Ishmael was during his last few days. He didn't get much sleep, and this showed us how Ishmael had survived in this part where he was at