My Titles.

Chapter 1.--- The Point of No Return.

For me, this chapter should be called like this because Ishmael left his village with his friends to never come back.

Chapter 2.--- Dreamworld Vs. Reality.

I believe this is an adequate title for what i can see in chapter 2. Ishmael relates his dream and how he struggles to see the difference between dream and reality.

Chapter 3.--- The Long Wait is Over.

Chapter 3 describes how Ishmael, his brother Junior and his friends are waiting in this village. They knew that the rebels would get to the village, but they were thinking that the rebels would get there soon; instead, the rebels took a long time and they caught everyone in the village by surprise. this is the reason what i think it should be called 'The Long Wait is Over.'

Chapter 6. --- Rap can Save Lives.

This title explains what happened in chapter 6. Ishmael is taken by the people in the village thinking that they were rebels. In a moment someone decided to check Ishmael pants and they found a cassette that contained rap music. The leader in the village ordered to play the cassette. after he listened to it, he let Ishmael and his friends leave. This is why I say: 'Rap Can Save Lives.'

Chapter 7.--- My Bro is Gone.

In this chapter is when Ishmael lost his brother Junior. This happened when the rebels attacked the village by surprise. Junior and Ishmael took different directions. This became the last time Ishmael was with a member of his close family.

Chapter 8.--- On My Own.

Ishmael experienced what is to be completely alone, surrounded by nature only. No one else to help him or to take care of him. This is why I name Chapter 8 'On My Own.' Ishmael had to take care of himself in order to survive in the forest.

Chapter 12.--- The Forced Transformation: from a kid to a soldier.

In this Chapter, Ishmael is given the 'forced choice' to join the army or to leave the village because the rebels had it surround it. What basically happened is that Ishmael had to change from this shy kid to a soldier just like Rambo.

Chapter 13.--- The Dark Side of My Childhood.

Chapter 13 relates the life of Ishmael as a soldier; the way he had to fight against the rebels for first time, how he killed them and how the rebels killed his friends.

Chapter 15.--- The Rejection of his Decision.

Ishmael rejects the decision the commander of the army group where he belonged. Ishmael cannot understand why did the commander chose him to be taken by UNICEF.


Chapter 20.--- The Life of a Child Soldier from My Own Perspective.

Ishmael traveled to the USA to talk in front of important people from different countries to let them know about the barbarities that are happening in Sierra Leone. This time Ishmael is telling this gentlemen the life of a child soldier from his own perspective and experiences.


Chapter 21.--- The Last Escape.

I believe this is a good title for all the experiences Ishmael went through throughout this chapter. I think these words reflect the last time Ishmael had to run away from his past, memories and war. He wanted to leave Sierra Leone to come to the USA to live with Laura.

Change?

I believe Ishmael Beah has stayed the same throughout the whole book. Why? for me, Ishmael has always been the kind of person who takes decisions and accept the consequences these may bring to his life. One example of this kind of attitude is when he chose to join the army. He knew there were only two options: kill the rebels who killed his family or try to escape and keep running away. The way I see he accepted the consequences this brought to his life was when he was in Benin home. Even if everyone told him "It was not your fault," he always knew inside him that it was himself who took the decision to join the army and that he accepted everything that he did.

Another example where I see that Ishmael takes decisions and that he accept them, is when he tried to leave Sierra Leone after his uncle died. Why? Laura told him he could live with her, but convince her was not the hardest part, it actually was leaving the country. He had first to travel to Guinea, he knew the trip was going to be dangerous. He knew that and still, he took the decision to try it, even if the chances were really slim. For me as a reader, I see that Ismael took the chance knowing that the consequence of not making it would be one of two: he would die trying or he would have to go back to the front lines.

These two examples make me believe that Ishmael was the same kind of person throughout the book; but, I think these examples work only for this aspect. I think that if we look other aspects of the way he behaved, we could see that he changed a lot.

Isolation or community? Maybe both?

Isolation and community are rarely related with each other at the same time. Isolation can be physical or mental. Isolation can be made by yourself or by the community you live in. One can argue that those two terms can not go along each other since isolation is an antonym of community. It is, however, untrue. Two antonym terms can go along each other in our actions. Those two terms can represent something different; however, it is how we perceive those terms gives them their meaning.
If for Mr.S a isolation means physically alone and when he is being asked to illustrate his point, he would probably draw a closed room, with no windows, only with one person inside; but what if for Mr.P isolation means only mentally isolated, and he would draw an auditorium full of people, where only one person would be shaded black. Mr.P feels isolated in the room full of people. How is it possible since isolation and community are completely different terms? Mr.P feels isolated because he does not think about people surrounding him. Maybe he does not know anyone in an auditorium, therefore he feels alone because he cannot talk to anyone. he feels mentally alone because he is not physically alone. It proves that isolation itself can be physical and mental. However, isolation and community can work together. There are situations when we can be isolated in a room full of people, it is how we feel that make us isolated.

In Chapters eight from ALWG I perceive Ishmael Beah struggling with isolation. The way he described the experience helped me to understand Isolation more than before. Also the isolation he felt reminded me what happened when I tried to get isolated couple of weeks ago. He felt alone with not much to do and his mind started to bring him bad memories, memories he did not wanted to remember. This example help me to understand more what really happens when you are alone, isolated from anyone physically; your mind thinks like crazy.
Then, in Chapter 9, he talks about the idea of community, how he finally joined a group of boys he knew from school. He talks about what they did, how they acted as a group, how they had fun with a ball of cloth, how they sang different songs; all sort of things kids at their age would normally do, and they were doing them even in the hard time they were experiencing, but I can feel a sense of isolation there. Maybe is that they act like a group, they try to hold to each other maybe they feel more safe; but, it seems that Ishmael's mind is isolated the same about the other boys. I feel that they are thinking on the personal experiences they have gone through, not as the whole group, only personal. It could be that they saw a family member or some die in front of them or other disturbing images that a war can cause. they act physically as a group, but their minds are isolated from each others.
For me the way Ishmael Beah described what he went through helped me to understand isolation and community in a different perspective; not from the perspective of a book, dictionary or someone who studies human nature. This is the perspective of a twelve year old boy, who at this small age had to go through death, fear, hunger, survival, isolation and many other things that we as regular people won't even experience in our childhood, maybe never.

LIGHT and DARK/GOOD and BAD

Now, the way that I understand Chapter 2 after reading it for a couple of times, it appears that in the flashback of his childhood Ishmael was not trying to follow the folktale of the moon. Why? It seems that in the revolution that was going on in Sierra Leone, he had no other choice; kill or be killed. However, this is not a valid reason to be celebrating or to feel happiness because he was taking lives away from those other children. Like Ishmael states: “We walked toward the dead bodies, giving each other high fives”. Looks like he lost all innocence that most children have.

Now we go to his new life; in this one, I believe, he is really striving to be like the moon, to be better, to become someone different, because he had the chance to get out from his country, therefore, the opportunity of starting back again from zero. However he shows us that he doesn’t really want to forget his childhood, they are the ones who make him who he is now. By the end of Chapter 2, Ishmael describes the differences of day and night. In my opinion, the day is when he strives to be like the moon because he is trying to have a new life, he is taking the chance he was given, therefore, he is following what the old man said. But in the night, his dreams takes him back to his childhood of which he is not proud. The child that took life away from other children just like him, the one celebrated dead; this is why I think he says: “… before turning on the light so that I could completely free myself from the dream world… I stayed awake all-night anxiously waiting for daylight, so that I could fully return to my new life ”

While most of us played with toys at day and at night we went to sleep thinking in tomorrow's fun, Ishmael killed children just like him, never knowing if he would be able to see daylight again.

"Striving to be like the moon"

By the end of chapter 1, Ishmael Beah describes how the old man used to say to people, "We must strive to be like the moon". His grandmother explained him what the old man meant. She said " the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others".

In chapter 2 he describes what he sees in his dream. He was part of the attack to the other armed group. He killed children just as young as him; I think in this part I cannot make a connection from his dream to how would he strive to be like the moon. By the end of the chapter he describes how he would like to erase those memories from the past, but he is aware that they are an important part of his life and that they make him who he is now. He also says " I would like to return to my new life, to rediscover the happiness I had know as a child, the joy that had stayed alive inside me even through times when being alive itself became a burden". This specific part makes me believe he is striving to be like the moon; even with all of the bad experiences he had as a child, he is trying his best to create a new life, and does not let those memories affect his present.