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SWC030 Assignment 2: Case Study

‘A Long Way Gone’ Beah, Ishmael

‘A Long Way Gone’ Ishmael Beah Ishmael Beah records his childhood of being a boy soldier in Sierra Leone at age twelve. Beah describes the horrors he and his friends had to endure at such a young age just for a slim chance of survival. Beah was left with horrific psychological damage, migraines and attachment issues due to watching his parents safe haven burnt in front of his eyes after months doing all he could to find them (Beah, A Long Way gone, 2007). My essay will explore how Beah formed relationships and how the war was detrimental to his relationship with not only people but objects.

Throughout the novel, Ishmael struggles to form relationships with people and found safety in guns and drugs. “My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed” (Beah, 2007 page 126). By consuming drugs, the user will experience many psychological consequences, some of which would be harsher on such a young boy such as Ishmael. Some consequences of taking the drugs that Ishmael did (Marijuana and Cocaine) are mood swings, violence, hallucinations, addiction and a desire to engage in risk behaviour (Kirschtein, 2015). Ishmael consumed a cocktail of drugs, including Marijuana, Cocaine mixed with gunpowder and an unknown white pill which he consumed when he had night terrors to prevent him from sleeping and be more concentrated when he was on the front line. Getting an attachment to the drugs and his gun and then having to be forced off them could be compared to being separated and learning that his family, his safety, had been taken away from him. “I still didn’t know what was going on, but I was beginning to get angry, anxious. I hadn’t parted with my gun since the day I became a soldier” (Beah, 130). Without his gun, Beah may have had his confidence and/or

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‘A Long Way Gone’ Beah, Ishmael

self-esteem lowered due to him not being able to defend himself if he came across any danger. This could lower him on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Effects (1943).

Relating to Thompsons PCS Framework (2006), Ishmael had no female role-models in his life after the war started, this may have had detrimental effects on his development and attitudes towards other people and relationships. Although females weren’t looked at as a position of power in Ishmael’s life, they were always kept at home to look after the children and cook. This was detrimental on the safety of the children because as less men returned to their families from the war, the children were sent out to the front line to fight instead, meaning that they were separated from their families and were left alone without any safety or shelter. Without any basic needs, this always left the children at the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943), unable to gain a fulfilled life. Although, Maslow’s theory can be argued against because although the boys were left without safety, some were given roles of power within their groups, which meant they may have self-actualised but due to them not actually having safety and their other basic needs met, they were never able to reach the level of self-fulfilment. Females played an important part in the lives of the men in the Sierra Leone war as they were the ones who cooked their food, and although they were some of the most important roles during this time, the men still took full advantage of them and tortured them and used them for their own pleasure “30% of armed organizations that use children have girls. Girl soldiers aren’t just at risk for long-lasting physical and psychological wounds, they are almost always at risk of often brutal sexual violence as well.” (Chatterjee, 2012). This gave the women a sense of fear against the males, which the males may have used to their advantage to show their power and superiority. In addition to this, in Ishmael’s culture they had something called a naming ceremony. This was significant to the power and superiority of males because the women were left to cook and

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‘A Long Way Gone’ Beah, Ishmael

prepare the food whilst the males chatted and drank. When the food was prepared, the men and the elderly got to eat first and then the women and the children got what was left. This shows that the men may not have been as appreciative of the women and the preparation for the ceremony as they maybe could have been, again showing their superiority.

Although not having a mother had negative effects on Beah’s development, Harlow (1958) composed an experiment with monkeys and whether a mother-figure with food or a motherfigure with comfort was more important, or more wanted, in the upbringing of a monkey or child. He found that the comforting aspects of a mother deemed more desirable to the monkey, and therefore assumed this would be the same for humans. Therefore, this shows that Beah only needed a mother for comfort, which with him being a young boy, alone and afraid is understandable. Harlow’s research has been critiqued by people such as John Gluck (1960) for not realising the ethical issues with the whole experiment and that monkeys cannot be compared to humans when it comes to the needs of their mothers. “Bowlby's evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.” (Mcleod, 2007) Beah formed attachments to Esther, his “temporary friend” (Beah, 2007) and his lieutenant due to having no mother throughout his childhood.

Shooting and killing became a daily activity to Ishmael, so much that he often compared it to drinking water, “Killing became as easy as drinking water” (Beah, 2012). The Lieutenants chose to recruit people who were easily persuaded and vulnerable, so they wouldn’t fight against being recruited, this is why they chose children, who were orphaned by the war and may want revenge against anyone who had hurt their family and on communities who may

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have alienated them (Zack-Williams 2001). Society dismissed Ishmael, a child just looking for safety, because they stereotyped him as being a rebel- they did not give him any kind of chance to prove his loyalty to the communities before they captured and tortured him. The communities soon learnt that Ishmael was just an orphaned boy when they discovered his love for rap music, which showed his innocence.

Ishmael’s personal values disappeared during his time as a soldier. “When you’ve lost family, you quickly learn to belong to this group, but to belong to this group, required violence. Violence became the way to show loyalty” (Beah, 2016). Before being separated from his parents, Beah would have never thought of killing someone in order to survive but due to being given practically free-reign with a gun at the age of twelve, the killing has taken it’s toll on Ishmael’s personal values. “The innocence of childhood was destroyed by these brutal men, who forced children to kill their own families as a method of indoctrinating them into the violence” (Beah, 2012). Beah knew killing was wrong, but also knew he either needed to “kill or be killed”, the influences of the lieutenant and his power privileges probably had a huge influence on his personal views. This could be related to Thompson’s PCS model (2006) as the culture and society Beah is part of influences his personal views.

Ishmael’s age could have impacted on his life chances as he grew up without any parents and struggling to form any kind of attachments. Anyone or anything that praised him, he seemed to form some kind of emotional attachment to, for example the lieutenant sharing his love of Shakespeare with him. This made Ishmael feel as if he finally belonged after months of trying to find his parents. This could have proved to have a negative effect on Ishmael as the lieutenant provided him with a sense of belonging and safety, which

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effectively brought him closer to self-actualisation in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943). Ishmael’s actions influenced his life chances as this deprived him of gaining a full education during his childhood, which left him unable to fully understand what was unravelling around him.

Ishmael’s music taste (Rap) had a huge impact on how he learnt English and also represents a part of his youth as his mother could not afford to allow him to finish school. Even though Ishmael had life of poverty and a split family, he still portrayed himself as a happy boy, who was grateful for everything he had. Ishmael was constantly trying to improve himself through his music and reading of plays in order to reach his full potential. By Ishmael trying to improve himself academically, he managed to reach the cognitive needs level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Effects despite his decrease in levels as the novel progresses (1943). One therefore doesn’t agree with Maslow’s theory when Ishmael is concerned as although he didn’t have safety or any basic needs later on in his journey, his knowledge and academia remained.

Despite Ishmael’s horrendous experiences, it hasn’t stopped him achieving everything he desired in life. Ishmael is now a human rights activist who works extremely closely with UNICEF to help children who were once in the same position he was when he was younger. Although what has been discussed above may have influenced Ishmael for the worst during his childhood, they now are just a part of his past that he can use to help countless amounts of other children. “Estimates suggest that as many as 300,000 child soldiers are active in conflicts around the world. 40% of armed forces (including national armies, militias, gangs, terrorist organizations and resistance forces) in the world use

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children.” (Chatterjee, 2012). With the help of UNICEF and humanitarians such as Ishmael Beah, the use of child soldiers across the whole world can be stopped and their lives can be greatly improved.

Bibliography Andrews, K. (2016). Voracious Science and Vulnerable Animals: A Primate Scientist’s Ethical Journey, by John P. Gluck. [online] Times Higher Education (THE). Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/review-voracious-science-and-vulnerableanimals-john-gluck-university-of-chicago-press#survey-answer [Accessed 23 Nov. 2017].

Beah, I. (2007). A long way gone. London: Fourth Estate.

Beah, I. (2012). ‘Killing became as easy as drinking water. I will never be able to. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/killingbecame-as-easy-as-drinking-water-i-will-never-be-able-to-forget-8424231.html [Accessed 21 Nov. 2017].

From Errol Barnett, C. (2012). Ex-child-soldier: 'Shooting became just like drinking a glass of water' - CNN. [online] CNN. Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/08/world/africa/ishmael-beah-child-soldier/index.html [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].

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Fung, J. (2013). Psychology: Harlow’s experiments on attachment in monkeys. by Janice …. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/janifu1/psychologyharlows-experiments-on-attachment-in-monkeys-by-janice-fung [Accessed 22 Nov. 2017].

Mcleod, S. (2007). John Bowlby | Maternal Deprivation Theory | Simply Psychology. [online] Simplypsychology.org. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html [Accessed 23 Nov. 2017].

McLeod, S. (2017). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. [online] Simply Psychology. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html [Accessed 21 Nov. 2017]. prezi.com. (2015). Stories and Their Themes: Drug Use in A Long Way Gone. [online] Available at: https://prezi.com/_fk2urdqyn_f/stories-and-their-themes-drug-use-in-a-longway-gone/?webgl=0 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].

UNICEF USA (2016). Ishmael Beah's Story: From Child Soldier to Human Rights Activist | UNICEF USA. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv7kHcr43vk [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].

Youthworkcentral.tripod.com. (2001). Theory | Anti-Oppressive Practice | Thompson's PCS Model. [online] Available at: http://youthworkcentral.tripod.com/aop_pcs.htm [Accessed 21 Nov. 2017].

Zack‐Williams, A. (2001). Child soldiers in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Review of African Political Economy, 28(87), 73-82.

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