On page 212, Ishmael writes, “It sickened me to see that Sierra Leoneans asked money from those who had come from the war. They were benefiting from people who were running for their lives.” More examples of this happening are very often in the book. Anyone who lives in the community, or even in Sierra Leone in general, should help each other out just for the sake of community. The older men should be helping out the younger boys, especially in the army that Ishmael joins. Instead of giving them drugs, brain-washing them, and making them killing machines they should be trying to get them to a safe area where they can live health, normal lives. But a lot of people don't do this, because the danger is so bad that it has become a "every man for himself" kind of situation. They saying "all is fair in love and war" is very evident in this book.
At the end of the story Ishmael ends with a story: A man goes into the forest to hunt, as he walks through the forest and reaches the hunting grounds he immediately spots a monkey in a clearing, but to far for a good shot. As he noisily treads through the fallen bushes, the monkey for some reason doesn't notice him. As he reaches a suitable spot to shoot from, about 30 feet from the monkey he raises his rifle, just then the monkey looks up from grazing, directly at the hunter and says "If you shoot me your mother will die, and if you don't, your father will." After telling this story Ishmael comes to the conclusion that he would shoot the monkey so it can't put other people into the same predicament. This relates to Ishmael's life because no matter what decision you make somebody will be hurt. He says through the monkey analogy that he would try to end the violence, even if someone had to get hurt in the process, just so nobody else would be affected in the future. I enjoyed the end of the book because it showed that Ishmael at least got out of the country, but still left some mystery for the reader as to what he does after that. I also particularly liked the monkey story because it got me thinking about what I would do.
Georgia- I agree that the saying "all is fair in love and war" is very prominent in this book. I also agree that the ending of the book was enjoyable, because it made me think about what my decision would have been in the case of the monkey and the hunter.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the quote you brought up- "All is fair in love and war". That was a really good connection for this book and it makes me think about the citizens of Sierra Leone's situation. I also liked how you brought up that sierra Leone is like a community and everybody should be sticking up for each other. It's interesting to think about a country as a community. Great post!!
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