A Long Way Gone--Chapter 11-12

This section of reading begins with the boys reflecting and mourning the death of Saidu. They try to keep moving, but they have to stop to take breaks every once in a while because they are so sad. The silence of their group grows stronger throughout their journey. They are trying to make it to the village where their families are supposed to be. They are so excited to see them that they try to get their quickly, but they have to stop to take a lot of breaks on their way. Finally, they make it to the village. They hear sounds ahead of them, which gives them hope that there is life ahead. On their way into the village, a man stops them on the side of the road. Ishmael remembers him from his home village. I loved meeting this character named Gasemu because he seemed so cute. He has a gap in his two front teeth and he is known throughout the village for his single lifestyle. While reading, I felt a lot of happiness learning about this character and how life used to be before they were struck by evil. He asks them to help him carry some bananas to the village. They are still a little whiles away from the village and there was only a narrow path for them to take so they had to make the rest of the journey single-filed. Another part of this journey that got me was when Gasemu was talking to Ishmael about his behavior as a child. He remembers how Ishmael’s forehead used to glow they thought when he was extremely happy. But then when he used to get angry his forehead would glow even more so that didn’t make sense. He tells Ishmael that his forehead isn’t glowing anymore. I think this is because there isn’t a lot, if any, of his old self in him. He has completely lost himself throughout the journey. He is excited to see his family to get at least a little of himself back. Gasemu also tells Ishmael that his brother is also here with his parents. He says that his brother went out looking for him but came back alone. He says that he blames himself for losing Ishmael. I remember when they got split up and it wasn’t really anyone’s fault so it was sad to hear that Ishmael was beating himself up from the whole incident. Finally, they get close enough to hear the village well but they have to stop and take a break to rest after climbing up the big hill. Right after they start their journey again, they hear a lot of gunshots and they hurry their pace. Once they are closer they realize it is the rebels attacking the village. Ishmael does all he can to hold himself back from going to the village to try to help. After a bit of waiting, they go into the village. What they see broke my heart. Almost all of the huts were on fire and there were dead people all around. They all desperately start searching for any family members still alive. The result is zero for everyone. Watching Ishmael search for his family was horrible! He tries to find someone to blame his heartbreak on and he chooses Gasemu as his target. I feel like people going through this needed someone to blame their pain on because they couldn’t take all of it among themselves because it was just so heavy. All the rest of his traveling group also start turning against themselves, which was just another example of them losing faith in one another and the war tearing friendships and family apart. Seeing all of these kids become hopeless after being filled with so much hope was really sad. More rebels then come back and the group seeks shelter within the woods. They make their escape after being chased by bullets. Gasemu unfortunately is shot amongst the escape and he struggles to stay alive throughout the night. But soon, he dies after battling as long as he could. The boys then have to make the rest of their journey alone. Gasemu pointed them in the right direction so eventually they arrive at a riverside and board a boat that takes them to Yele. When they make it to Yele, they are overwhelmed with the feeling of safety they feel in this new place. The place was very crowded with families and young boys so the boys felt like they were in the right place. The boys are all assigned a task they have to do every day. Ishmael is happy about this because this helps distract him from his thoughts, which are still dangerous and plagued. But when his task is over and he is by himself, he has nothing to keep himself away from his thoughts. He suffers terrible migraines and nightmares in this village that cause him much pain. Soon, there are gunshots heard very close to the village and the soldiers in the village go out to fight. Soon, some come back but not many so the boys in the village now have to be trained. Ishmael’s two roommates, Sheku and Josiah, are very young and can barely hold their guns. They all go through training every day, all day and training becomes their lives. When they go to bed at night, Sheku and Josiah muttered things they heard throughout the day, which consisted of weapon sounds and other war things. When I read this it made me sad because these boys were so young and they shouldn’t have to be involved in war, but sadly they were. War was a huge part of their lives now and I think it will just take me a while to become comfortable with this piece of the literature. This section is the beginning of a big change in the novel and the reading from now on I think will be drastically different.