Literary Devices in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Though we take a few quick trips to New York City, A Long Way Gone mainly takes place in Sierra Leone during the years 1993 through 1997. This is right smack in the middle of a huge and brutal civi...
Narrator Point of View
A Long Way Gone is Ishmael Beah's memoir, so that means it's told by him and from his point of view. Since the author can't possibly know what any other characters are thinking (he's not psychic af...
Genre
An autobiography is the story of a person's life told by them and only them. A Long Way Gone is Ishmael's story and he's the one relating it all to us. We also can classify the book as a War Drama...
Tone
A Long Way Gone is all about the horrors of war, so it's not exactly light reading with smiles on every page. The entire book has a very dignified and serious tone. This isn't easy stuff we're deal...
Writing Style
Ishmael Beah is telling us his life story. It's a story in which he has done some pretty awful things to survive. We can't really blame him, but we do appreciate the honest way he approaches the wa...
What's Up With the Title?
The title of this book—A Long Way Gone—comes from a line in chapter 9:I began to worry, because last time I had found someone in the village who had gone to school with us and saved us. This ti...
What's Up With the Ending?
Ishmael ends his story not with his safe arrival in America, but with a little tale he heard as a boy: You are a hunter and you are about to shoot a monkey. Before you can pull the trigger, the mon...
Tough-o-Meter
A Long Way Gone can be a tough read. Yes, you're reading about horrific acts of violence during a terrible real-life war, but that's not all that's hard about this book. Readers who aren't familiar...
Plot Analysis
Ishmael's village is attacked by the Revolutionary United Front one day while he and some friends are away from town. His family is lost, and life as he knows it is pretty much over.Ishmael and his...
Trivia
Ishmael eventually ended up attending Oberlin College in Ohio where he took a writing class with author Dan Chaon. When Ishmael turned in stories about mutilating rival soldiers, his professor told...
Steaminess Rating
There is no sex at all in A Long Way Gone, but there are scenes that mention rape and, obviously, lots and lots of violence. So, while this book is light on the sexy times, it's probably not okay t...
Allusions
The stories of Anansi the Spider, probably the source for Musa's tale about Bra Spider (10.15)Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (12.14) Macbeth by William Shakespeare (12.18)"High We Exalt Thee,...