Reaching salvation

After living in a harsh world of violence, Ishmael along with other kid soldiers are handed over to Unicef, where he is put in rehabilitation when he reaches New York. Here, Ishmael meets a nurse that allows him to open up to what happened to him in africa. 

"When I was a child, my grandmother told me that the sky speaks to those who look and listen to it. She said, -In the sky there are always answers and explanations for everything: every pain, every suffering, joy, and confusion- That night I wanted the sky to talk to me" (166).

Ishmael talks for the first time with other people about his past and family. It was at this moment that he knew he could get better, and Ishmael got determined to do it for his own sake and for the sake of his family´s memories. 

"For the first time sice all the madness started, i felt hope".
Ishmael is starting to feel human again and starts thinking more about his family, values, lifestyle, etc. Ishmael is not ready to give up yet, so he will continue his journey, but this time it will be a good one. 

Ishmael beah is a person who can highly inspire others. When someone hears his story, it is something that impacts that person and may open up a whole new perspective on the world! 

Testing the Limits...

 After a long journey and loosing his friends, Ishmael gets assigned to the army and hopes to get revege for his family. Ishmael is running way from violence but in order to survive he had to form part of it but he didn´t know that trying to take revenge for his family would go to the limit.  

"Whenever I looked at rebels during raids, I got angrier, because they looked like the rebels who played cards in he ruins of the village where I had lost my family. So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could, but I didn't feel any better" (122). 
Ishmael tries to relief his pain through killing rebels and violence but each violent act he does pays the price by taking away his humanity. This is why Ishmael can´t feel better by killing them; It is not something a kid or any human in general should be doing. He is just becoming more like the rebels who killed his family. 

"I had my gun now, and as the corporal always said, -This gun is your source of power in these times. It will protect you and provide you all you need, if you know how to use it well-" (124). 

In this world full of violence and death where Ishmael is forced to live in, he has no choice but to rely on his gun. Violence seems to be the only way out, and Ishmael needs to fight for his sanity. 

Ishmael is a strong person, who does not give up and that´s what allowed him to triumph. Not giving up is clue for life and not only useful for survival but for happiness and a good future too. 

A moment of peace

After escaping from the rebels for a long time, Ishmael and his friends haven't talked much. This continued for weeks until one day, they reached the ocean. Here they for the first time in many time they started talking and making jokes between each-other. This was one of the best moments Ishmael had since the rebels attacked.

"My eyes widened, a smile forming on my face. Even in the middle of the madness there remained that true and natural beauty, and it took my mind away from my current situation as I marveled at this sight". (59)

This quote shows that Ishmael is still a kid and things can still get good for him although those terrible situations have happened. As long as there is people like him, that no matter the circumstances can find something good in evil, there is still hope between the people of Africa. 

One of the unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, was that I wasn't sure when or where it was going to end. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I felt that I was starting over and over again. (69)

The special moments like the beach were almost a miracle concerning the situation Ishmael is stuck in. Sierra Leone has turned into a battleground, where Ishmael and his friends needed to constantly flee from violence in order to survive. People were not only running from violence, but they were turning violent as well since rumors of people killing for food and stealing were being spread (people who were not the rebels).

In my opinion, what Ishmael talks about is something similar to apocalypse and no one was really doing something to help. I think that ignorance between humans is one of the main reasons why this sad event happened since before turning to violence the people needed help to find other answers but no one cared; no one stepped up.  

Ishmael

Ishmael is a normal kid who lives in Africa.  Suddenly, a group of rebels start arising against the government using violence that no one could think people were capable of and bring the country to chaos. This kid's village is about to get attacked, so Ishmael starts a journey for survival.

"Things changed rapidly in a matter of seconds and no one had any control over anything. We had yet to learn these things and implement survival tactics, which was what it came down to"(29).

Ishmael talks about the rebels' violence causing people to change which is something that really impacts Ishmael on his way of living. Not only he will have to escape from this violence, but he might sometimes have to implement it himself for survival.

"When I was little, my father used to say- If you are alive, there is hope for a good day and something good to happen.  If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die-"(54).
Ishmael had a big connection with his father. On this quote he remembers one of the lessons his father taught him. This helps Ishmael get motivated to keep surviving and gives him hope to some day re-meeting his family.

When we are pushed to our limits, as humans some of us give up and some fight. I wonder how it must feel to be at this point of choosing between giving up and achieving your goals. Will Ishmael ever truly reach this critical moment?

The End

When Horace fights Morgarath, he is faced to his toughest match. Horace is about to be defeated when he comes up with a great idea, which leads him to be able to stab Morgarath and win! After this, Halt needs to go to save his friends Will and Evalynn, who turns out to be the princess of the kingdom. Horace makes it too late and Will and Evalynn get taken to Skandia (another continent). End of Ranger's Apprentice part 2.

"Halt was so near and yet so impossibly out of reach"(261). Here, Halt tries to save Will from the Skandians but he was a few minutes late. This is when Will know he will not be seeing home in a while.  "I'll find you, Will"(261). Halt says goodbye to Will as the boat floats away, and Halt is really hoping they survive on the foreign land.

I think that on the next book, Will and Evalynn (who get taken to Skandia) will be able to escape and meet their friends again. Maybe Halt will travel there to save them too. This is way he says the final quote and he really means it.

Captives

After knowing what the bridge was being built for, Will destroys it. He and Evalynn now need to get out, but they were too late. Will and Evalynn get taken as catives from the skandians, while Horace and Halt fight against the wargal army. Morgarath challenges Halt to a duel, but the king forbidds it and Horace takes Morgarath instead...

"...when fear had made his shots go wide. His face gardened and he determined that it would not happen again"(180). Will is a really determined person who tries to do better. I think this is what helps him succeed in the things he likes and also what leads him to have good plans.
"Slowly, painfully, Horace climbed to his feet once more"(249). Determination and not giving up is something that the book shows a lot; these are the reasons why Horace and Will manage to succeed. I think this is very important on many things.

"He could be killed. Then dully, he laughed at himself. He was going to be killed anyway".(249)
Will Horace really die fighting Morgarath? I think he will succeed.

Following the Clues

After sending Gilan to warn the king of the Wargal army's plans, they follow the tracks of the army which leads them to a wargal camp next to a bridge across a fissure to attack the other side in surprise. This is bad news since Halt realizes that the warning he gave the king would get him trapped!

"The walls and floor showed evidence of the Celts' picks and drills..." (148)
Here we know how the army is using the Celts to build the bridge across the Fissure. This is really interesting because it makes me wonder how would the story be from a Celt's point of view.
"Once again, Halt's Words echoed in his ear: nowhere is really impassable" (149)
Halt is a really wise man known for defeating Morgarath. This makes Halt a really interesting character who is up to new mysterious things each day.

After looking at the bridge, Will knows that the army crossing it must be huge. Unable to communicate with his master or friends, Will realizes he needs to create a plan to save the kingdom.

Unsolving the mistery

       After getting to Celtica, Will realizes that the whole country is empty. Then they find a Celt girl called Evalynn who tells them about morgaraths attack on Celtica. Halt, will's teacher suspects that morgarath is planning to destroy the country by using celts to make a passage through the mountain to  be able to gain power faster.

"Find a husband and learn to cook. Thats all that women are good for, girl. Cooking and raising babies!" (94). This quote shows how people before were really disrespectful towards women and that there was a really big difference between being born a male and being born a women in old times.
Another quote that caught my attention was:

"I didn't know if there'd be more of morgarath's patrols around..." (101).
We can see that people who were attacked by Morgarath are terrified of him. It also makes me think of why is this enemy so strong and fearsome.

My question is, if morgarath is growing so strong and dangerous, will Halt and his apprentice (Will)
Try to track them down? If they do, what might happen to them?

The beginning...

Rangers Apprentice

On the fist few chapters, Will gets to know Horace a warrior apprentice. They travel to Celtica a neighbor country to Auralen (Will's country). When they get there, they are shocked since all towns are empty. Will and his friends search for people nonstop but come out empty handed...

"After sixteen years of relative peace, people are growing complacent". (13)
I think this quote is really important because it reflects on how society is at the moment. People have had peace for so long that if war comes to them, they wouldn't know what to do and fall in chaos. This also is important because we can see that even when we think we are safe, we should be cautious.
Another interesting quote is: "So how was it that you became a Ranger?" (31)
Will was a ranger because he was chosen to be one, although he wanted o be a knight. I think that getting to choose what you want to do is very important since it helps you to be happier. In Will's case luckily, he ended up liking being a ranger and did not have any kind of 2nd thoughts.

This book is getting better the more I read, and I think that it has a really interesting story and suspense. I think that next Will and his friends will find out the truth behind all the people missing in Celtica.