A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider (Chapter 21)

Lily Tikijian
October 30, 2008
Literature Period 6
Mrs. Pfanschmidt

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider
Chapter 21

This chapter was a very interesting way to finish the book. I was left with so many questions that weren’t answered. Not only was I left with questions, I also got answers. It broke my heart when Ishmael’s Uncle died. I can’t imagine anything happen to any one of my family members. Not only did Ishmael lose one family, he lost too. His Uncle was the only family he had left and now he is gone. I would be filled with such agony and misery after losing the one person that I had left in my life. Ishmael is also going through the same process that he was about three years ago. He is running from the army. Its happening all over again, he keeps saying how this is all to familiar to him. Thank god he escapes instead of becoming a child solider again. I was surprised by the fact that he didn’t take anyone with him to escape. You would think he would want to take Mohamed or his cousin. I did find that very questionable and he never talked about his decision from then on. There were so many times that Ishmael could have been killed. He was stopped by so many soldiers on the way out of Sierra Leone; he is truly a miracle man. He has escaped death at least five-hundred times. Ishmael ended the book with a story he remembers from his childhood. I am sure there is a significant meaning behind the story but I couldn’t figure it out. I am a little disappointed in the way he ended the book. I wanted to know more about him going live with his friend in New York and if he ever went back and if he even made it! I just have so many unanswered questions. I did fully enjoy this book though. I thought it was filled with everything a good book should have. I could have done without the graphic images but that’s what made the story intriguing.