Journal 6- Chas Martin

Chas Martin

English at 1:30

Mr. Lohre

October 16, 2019

Journal 6

1.      I think the most meaningful character other than Ishmeal Beah was Esther. Without her Beah wouldn’t have become the person he is now. He would have kept struggling in rehabilitation and kept fighting the new system he was taken into. I think the most influential part that Esther is apart of is when Beah opens up to her and talks about how he got his bullet holes. Esther never interrupted the story or I think Beah would have mentioned it in the book. That means that she just listened to the story and this shows that she became a person that Beah could not only trust but for someone he could open up to.

2.      I feel like his rehabilitation went very well. He showed this when Freetown was taken over by the RUF and he stood strong and didn’t fall into his old ways. If Beah was to move into my neighborhood or any former child soilder in that fact, I’m not going to lie I would feel a little nervous. I wouldn’t push him out or separate myself from him but I would want to get to know him. I think everyone at first would feel a little uncomfortable but as time progresses we need to learn to understand that these are people just like you and I.

3.      I think Beah’s use of scene in the book was beyond beautiful. In some scenes I felt like I could imagine what had actually taken place. He described some moments with such passion that it had blown me away. I really haven’t felt that much power and inspiration from someone’s writing in a long time.

4.      I’m not going to quote the entire passage because it is long but I think my favorite passage was when Beah is describing the chaotic disturbance that took place when all the former child soldiers had started fighting. When Beah had described him fighting in the war I think it showed change for his character. When he was brought back to civilized world and it showed the scene where the fighting had taken place and the young boys had died. That scene shows us how twisted their young minds had become. The war never stopped for them, they could only think about killing one another no matter what the cost was.