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A Long Way Gone, By Ishmael Beah

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“A young man, now safely settled in Canada, once told me that he didn't mind being called a refugee because it described a situation that was forced on him; it didn't define who he was” (Goodwin, 2011). This comes from a discussion between Debi Goodwin and a former refugee about the current refugee crisis in the Middle East. This observation is also seen in the novels What Is the What, by Dave Eggers, and A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah. The displacement occurring in corrupt societies within What Is the What and A Long Way Gone display the contrasting religious and political views, which leads to civil war. The violence caused by rebel, militia, and government organizations in certain African countries leads to mass displacement. Therefore, …show more content…

Whilst leading to civilians fleeing Sudan and Sierra Leone to start new lives. The histories behind both wars are quite similar as both were solely motivated by natural resources and power imbalance. As The Revolutionary United Front had established in 1991 as rebel army that shared one goal, which was to overthrow Sierra Leone's government. Often referred to as the “Blood Diamond” era in certain African countries. Although diamonds and natural resources were a significant motivating factor, there were other causes of the Sierra Leone Civil War. Such as the pre-war frustrations and injustices that had transpired for decades. More than twenty years of poor governance, poverty and corruption created a setting for the RUF causing a rebellion, as civilians desired for change in Sierra Leone. Corruption and mismanagement led to the downfall of the country leading to an increase of recruits for the RUF. For Sierra Leoneans who did not have access to cultivating land, joining the rebel cause was an opportunity to seize property with deadly force. After leaving over 50 000 casualties and 2.6 million citizens displaced from Sierra Leone. The war came to an end in 2002 concluding in a loss for the …show more content…

It starts off in the United States, with the same seven year old, who had grown up in the village of Marial Bai, Southern Sudan. Valentino is a Dinka from the victimized south, abused by the corrupt Muslim regime. There were only small signs of war of given, and then shocking chains of events that led multiple children to escape from their very villages. Since having to be separated from his family due to the Second Sudanese Civil War and then eventually joining “The Lost Boys of Sudan”. We are introduced to him as a young man, meeting confusing and unexpected obstacles as a recent immigrant to the U.S. As the obstacles include being robbed by a fellow African American and as he lay tied up on his own living room floor, he begins to tell his story, in his thoughts personally addressing his heartless captors and as he he recalls his Sudanese desert wastelands. Therefore comparing his new life in the US to his life back in Sudan. However, he recollects his memory on various accounts in which he'd seen or experienced true horrors, but how those felt like home. He explains how hard it was even to get to America, and the hardships before, and still, wishes to go back. “This boy thinks I am not of his species, that I am some other kind of creature, one that can be crushed under the weight of a phone book” (Eggers, 52). As the young boy represents the American readers. This shows the

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