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A Long Way Gone Theme Essay

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A Long Way Gone
In this essay I’m going to be discussing three themes from the novel A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah. The three themes I am going to be talking about are survival, family, and war. There are many themes in this novel, but I believe these are the three most important ones. I will explain each theme, give quotes from the book showing the theme and then explain how they are significant and show the theme.
In A Long Way Gone, A big part of the story is Ishmael explaining what he and his friends had to do to stay alive through the civil war. This is showing the theme, survival. Survival is to show that it wasn’t easy for him, or for anyone. Everyone was scared the might die, which caused people to do irrational things. This …show more content…

Junior gave me his bucket, took my empty one, and returned to the river. When he came home, the first thing he did was ask me if I was hurt from falling. I told him I was fine, but he examined my knees and elbows anyways, and when he was done, he tickled me.” (pg. 39) This shows the theme because Junior, his older brother, didn’t learn any magic, but he wanted to keep Ishmael’s imagination running, and give him something to believe in. When Ishmael fell, It was obvious that Junior cared deeply about his younger brother and wanted to make sure he was okay after falling. Another example of family as a theme is towards the end of the book, when Ishmael is talking about when he was seven. He wrote, “Pa Sesay, one of my friends’ grandfather, had told us many stories that night, but before he began telling the last story, he repeatedly said ‘This is a very important story.’... ‘There was a hunter who went into the bush to kill a monkey. He had looked for only a few minutes when he saw a monkey sitting comfortably in the branch of a low tree. The monkey didn’t pay him any attention, not even when his footsteps on the dried leaves rose and fell as he neared. When he was close enough and behind a tree where he could clearly see the monkey, he raised his rifle and aimed. Just when he was about to pull the trigger, the monkey spoke: ‘If you shoot me, your mother will die, and if you don't, your father will die.’...’What would you do if you

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