Week 3

On page 37, Ishmael writes, “This was one of the consequences of the civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy.” I have felt this way sometimes, but not as extreme as Ishmael has. Some days when I'm having a particularly bad day I can feel the everyone I meet, everything I see, basically the whole world, is out to get me. In Ishmael's case a great deal of people that are in his country are out to get him, but the feelings are mutual. Some other times Ishmael feels that every stranger is an enemy is on page 99. Ishmael was being lead to a local village by a man he once knew, from his original village of 
Mogbwemo, to see his family again for this first time again in many long, long months. Right as he is nearing the village, rebels enter the community and burn it to the ground while shooting the fleeing refugees. Seeing this Ishmael gets very mad and frustrated at his luck, but he still continues on to see if there are any remains of his parents and brother left.  He stays in the village too long and rebels see him and the other boys and chase them out of the village while shooting machine guns.  Just as they feel they have reached safety Ishmael releases the older man has been shot, and he soon passes away. At that moment Ishmael is stunned, confused, and slightly angry at the world. He thinks that every stranger he meets is against him because of the future events.