CHARACTERS:
ISHMAEL BEAH: |
Ishmael Beah was a kid soldier for the Sierra Leone Armed services during the civil war with the RUF, ishmael is motivated by the death of his family and he has a desire for revenge. Ishmael lived a happy childhood in his village before the war. He was capable of doing very violent things and he killed a lot.
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ESTHER: |
Esther was Ishmael's nurse in Benin House which was the rehabilitation center where he was brought after the war. She would take care of Ishmael while he was recovering and encouraged him to talk about his experiences. She gave Ishmael some rap music and a walkman and he would tell her his stories and the pain and suffering that he was going/went through.
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UNCLE TOMMY |
Uncle Tommy is Ishmael's uncle. He is a dad who takes care of a bunch of children because he takes in kids from relative. He is a very good person. He visits Ishmael in the rehabilitation center and offers him to come to his home. He treated Ishmael as his own son. Most patients at the rehabilitation center are denied by their own families so this was important to Ishmael a big deal for him to have a father figure in his life.
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Themes & Symbols
In chapter one of A Long Way Gone, it says “Whenever I get the chance to observe the moon now, I still see those same images I saw when I was six, and it pleases me to know that part of my childhood is still imbedded in me.” (pg.17) From the start of the book, the moon has been important to Ishmael because its always there and always the same moon. Ishmael mentions the moon in many chapters throughout the book.