A Long Way GoneIn the world, even if at first people don’t realize it, music has a significant impact on everyone. People’s memories are also evoked when associated with music. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a memoir about his journey through adolescence as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. The theme of music had the utmost impact throughout Ishmael’s memoir.
Before the war, music provided enjoyment for Ishmael, letting him escape from everyday difficulties. “Before we parted to carry out our evening chores of fetching water and cleaning lamps, we would say ‘peace son’ or ‘I’m out’, phrases we picked up from rap lyrics.” (Beah 7) By Ishmael saying this shows how much music influenced him before the war. All of the boys listening to rap always had something to get their minds off the hardships they faced. They could always think about the lyrics on their way to get water, or while they were scrubbing lamps. Additionally, this quote shows how close Ishmael was to music. He spoke a different language and “couldn’t understand what was being said” (Beah 6-7) but was still able to pick up certain sayings. Ishmael never knew how being close to music would eventually save him physically or mentally.
During the war Ishmael was left alone, to wander from village to village, attempting not to get caught by soldiers. Eventually, Ishmael met with friends, and music saved their lives. They were walking to a village they thought was empty at the time, but they were captured, and brought to the man in charge. The boys were stripped of their belongings, when Ishmael’s tapes fell out of his pocket. The men then played said tapes. “I explained to him it was rap music and that myself, my brother, and my friends – not the ones I am with – used to listen, and perform at talent shows.” (Beah 66-67) This sentence demonstrates how music impacted Ishmael’s life for two main reasons. The first being that it saved his physical life; the men no longer
s the same guys. The second was the fact that he is able to use this music as a coping mechanism rather than as a means of self-discovery. As we now know, Ishmael has developed a “mental” coping mechanism, with no memory of which he is able to differentiate between this material and the actual music. This behavior of being able to read the lyrics and sing about the music makes sense to him in the first place. To this day, Ishmael cannot recall anything, nor does he remember his friends. This ability is the source of all his guilt, sadness, worry, despair, and even his pain. We must remember that he has become a monster and his life is over and he will have enough time to take a break and to heal. This is why the music is so good of his lyrics, because it is so good of a self-aware coping mechanism. He remembers it for several days, a time he does not remember being sad, happy, sad, and even depressed at, or about, such moments. As time went on, he kept getting sad and disappointed in himself and in his friends and his life and lost his memory. In a sense, the music is a wake-up call for him to make a change in direction from where he started. He takes a walk, gets closer to himself, and says the words that have shaped his way of thinking and his life. With that simple fact, he can put up a positive facade of his self esteem and happiness, and in doing so, he can achieve greater self-acceptance, more strength, the capacity to do better, and that was the first thing that came to my attention. As such, he is a very successful individual with a lot on his plate, and this is how he finds solace for himself. This is how he makes it through the toughest times of his life. We know that Ishmael is very introspective, and I can attest that he is open to what everyone else has thought. He is open to what everybody else thought and in doing so, he has found peace. When his story begins to unravel we will hear stories and understand that it is very possible that he is one of those people of the past who are going to continue to be open to who he is and what he is. There is much there to learn about these things. In some respects, he found peace and came to rest when he was about to enter a new phase in his life, as a self-aware person who has come to be less of an outsider and more of himself. In those few moments of deep sorrow, he knew that there was peace in that moment, like his heart was broken and he wished he could see some more of it again. If only that were the case, he would probably do better.