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.