AP+Group+14

Natty Untiveros & Julianne Capati Mr. Shingler A Long Way Gone LOQ's 22 February 2011

=A Long Way Gone LOQ'sTheme: Rememberance, Memory, Memories=

**Chapter 13:**

 * In Chapter 13, the Lieutenant tells the boys and Ishmael to grab guns and ammunition that will allow them to run fast, and says, “If you see anyone without a head tie of this color or a helmet like mine, shoot him” (Beah 115). How do Ishmael's unchangeable orders correlate to his experience running for his own safety?
 * Why does Ishmael find fear in his surroundings when he is sent to kill rebels, when he has experienced being alone in the woods before?
 * In Chapter 13, Ishmael experiences being a direct part of the war for the first time. How does his experience watching his friends and strangers around them dying affect his mental stability? Does it destroy his chance of a normal life again, or will his witnessings eventually let him leave in peace?
 * What does Ishmael lose and gain by joining the army?
 * What role does the army represent in Ishmael and others?

**Chapter 14:**

 * When Ishmael shares with the reader his addiction to drugs and his new activities in the life of a solider, how do the memories of his family's tragic deaths affect him in the position he is currently in?
 * How has the army experience changed Ishmael's ability to sincerely remember the terror he was in when he was the one being attacked?
 * How does Ishmael's past experiences play a role in his new life as a soldier? Do they affect him at all?
 * What makes Ishmael different from the RUF?
 * "'We--the lieutenant pointed to us--"are here to protect you and will do all we can to make sure nothing happens to you.' He pointed to the civilians" (Beah 123). What do you think Ishmael is really fighting for? The civilians, the rebels or himself?
 * In Chapter 13-14, and even in past chapters, there is a lack of remembrance like he did in the earlier chapters, what does this say about who he is becoming or his character

**Chapter 15:**

 * Based on the quote, "My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed" (Beah 125), Do you think that Ishmael has forgotten what it is like to have a family?
 * Do you think that his replacement of a gun with a possible fatherly/motherly figure has changed his perspective of protection?
 * How (if at all) have Ishmael's memories of his childhood, family and simple life been replaced with anger and sadness?
 * Is it possible Ishmael still finds happiness in the memories of his grandmother, brother or family even in the tough times of war?
 * Why do you think the lieutenant decided to give Ishmael and the others to UNICEF?
 * Do you think Ishmael joining the army fixed his problems or created more internal conflicts for him?

**Chapter 16:**

 * What do you think drives Ishmael's behavior when he's being rehabilitated? Guilt, lack of family, etc?
 * Do memories make someone human? Do they constitute humanity?
 * Does Ishamel's lack of reminiscing, or facing his memories change him as a human?
 * When the staff tells him and the others being rehabilitated that it is not their fault, why do you think Ishmael gets angry? Does he believe it is his fault or they show lack of respect for him?
 * According to Beah, "I would try desperately to think about my childhood, but I couldn't. The war memories had formed a barrier that I had to break in order to think about any moment in my life before the war" (Beah 149). Do you think Beah created that barrier between his childhood memories and the war?
 * Why doesn't Beah think of his family?

**Chapter 17:**

 * When Esther gives Ishmael the walkman, what does receiving these gifts represent? Does it represent him returning back to who he was before the war?“Little did I know that surviving the war that I was in, or any other kind of war, was not a matter of feeling trained or brave. These were just things that made me feel I was immune to death” (Beah 159). Why did Ishmael feel like he needed to be immune to death?
 * Do you believe that Ishmael before the war was stronger than the Ishmael during the war?
 * On page 159, why does Ishmael find the somber eye's of the men he killed irritating?
 * What does Ishamel's nightmare in Chapter 17 represent?
 * Do you think Ishmael is searching for forgiveness in his family? Or do you think by the lack of thinking of his family and the memories is, he is afraid?
 * Why do you think Ishmael starts thinking back to his memories? Why didn't he do it during the war?

**Chapter18:**

 * In Chapter 18, “Well now you do. You see, this is the beauty of starting a new family. You can have different kinds of family members.’” What is Esther trying to say in response to Ishmael’s sadness about everybody being gone from his childhood memories?
 * Do Ishmael’s memories make him stronger or weaker?
 * “I would always tell people that I believe children have the resilience to outlive their suffering, if given a chance” (Beah 169). Do you think Ishmael’s recovery came from his childhood memories or the memories of being a boy soldier?
 * What significance does Mohammed’s return have in Ishmael’s life?
 * What significance does Uncle have in Ishmael’s life?
 * Why does Ishmael have a longing for someone to recollect his childhood memories? For example, meeting his Uncle?

**Chapter 19:**

 * According to Beah, “Why have I survived the war? Why was I the last person in my immediate family to be alive?” (Beah 179).
 * Even though Ahaji was apart of the war with Ishmael, does he negatively impact Ishmael? Especially when Ishamel leaves with his Uncle and says, “Goodbye squad leader” (Beah 180)
 * Why do you think Esther sacrifices her time for boys like Ishmael? Why does Esther handle everyone’s war stories?
 * Does Ishmael’s memories stop him from being happy? For example on page 183 when he meets the woman at the club and he remembers the school dance he terrorized.
 * Why wasn’t Ishmael ready to tell his family about being a boy soldier? What was the significance in that?
 * “It made me wish I could go back in the beginning and change things.” What point would Ishmael have to get to feel like he did not have to change anything? What makes him feel that way?

**Chapter 20:**

 * Do you think it was necessary for Ishmael to join the army in order to survive?
 * Why does Ishmael never concretely think about his family?
 * According to Beah, “What I have learned from my experiences is that revenge is not good. I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I’ve come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end…” (Beah 199). Do you think revenge was necessary for Ishmael?
 * Despite the horrific events Ishmael experienced, do you think it impacted his character positively or negatively? Considering that it may have been necessary for him to join the army to survive, etc.
 * At the end of Chapter 19, why is it important to Ishmael to have people remember his existence?
 * What significance did going to New York have on Ishmael?

**Chapter 21:**

 * Do you think it made it difficult for Ishmael to recover in the beginning of rehabilitation because he could not let go of the memories? As opposed to page 202 when he states, “I knew I could never forget my past, but I wanted to stop talking about it so that I would be fully present in my new life” (Beah 202).
 * When the rebels reach Freetown, why do you think Ishmael states that he couldn’t make it out alive again?
 * Would Ishmael ever return to the Army?
 * How do you think Ishmael and Mohammed feel when the RUF returns? How does it effect their rehabilitation?
 * “I was always losing everything that meant something to me”. Do you think Ishmael is close to return to his state of unhappiness?
 * At the end when he talks about the story of the monkey, do you think that such a sacrifice would have to come from someone who has already lost everything?