Response to A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a very powerful memoir and book about the Sierra Leone Civil War and the children forced into becoming soldiers during it. Honestly, this book was very difficult to read because there is so much violence, blood, and death throughout it. It’s overwhelming to imagine having to witness and experience something as terrible and frightening as the Sierra Leone Civil War at any age, not to mention being as young as twelve like Beah was when it began. Similar events, such as those that occurred throughout A Long Way Gone, happen in countries all around the world and people of all ages witness and are affected by it. It’s a sad reality, but reality nonetheless.

There were quite a few things within this book that I found both surprising and not so surprising. One is how the people of different towns were afraid of a group of traveling boys. This was surprising because they’re just kids! However, I can also understand that with the knowledge of children being forced into becoming soldiers, families and communities would become weary of them. Another thing that was shocking to me, and also not shocking at all, was the RUF’s ability to brainwash these kids into believing they were the good guys. It’s shocking because as I read through this portion of the book there were things I recognized hinting that something was off. But it’s also not surprising that the children believed them because of the lies the RUF fed them about the deaths of their families. It’s still a scary thought though, to realize how easily children and even adults are brainwashed and mislead to believe things that aren’t true. Even so, history shows that this has happened many times and continues to happen all over the world no matter how large or small the issues are.

I think reading about events such as the Sierra Leone Civil War through a firsthand account of someone who actually experienced, witnessed, and possibly even became involved in it, is very important for readers to be exposed to. True, it may be uncomfortable, but it’s necessary for readers to understand exactly what these people went through rather than having it retold by someone removed from the situation. When a story is told by someone who experienced such horrors firsthand, there is no sugarcoating what happened. That’s what I loved about this memoir. Despite its gruesome and uncomfortable telling of war and death, Ishmael Beah told the readers exactly what happened, the way it happened. In all honesty, it got a bit repetitive at times but that’s because the situations and events that occurred were repetitive. These violent acts happened over and over again and the responses to these acts were almost always the same. Because this story was told through the firsthand experience of Beah it felt authentic and I knew that I was being lead through a true event by a reliable narrator. It made the story much more interesting to read and the emotional response I had was greater because it was a memoir rather than a book of fiction based on true events.

Research on Sierra Leone and the Civil War

Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic in West Africa. There are about sixteen ethnic groups dwelling in Sierra Leone, each with their own language and customs. The predominant religion is Muslim and there is a Christian minority. Economically, Sierra Leone relies on mining, diamonds in particular. They also produce titanium, gold, rutile, and bauxite. Even though it is a country with natural wealth, 70% of the population in Sierra Leone lives in poverty. While this is sad, I don’t really find it surprising because the case is the same with many other countries around the world.

The Sierra Leone Civil War began on March 23, 1991 and lasted eleven years. 50,000 people died during the civil war. This number may be tiny in comparison to the amount of people killed in other wars around the world throughout history, but it is still shocking considering how small Sierra Leone is. What began the civil war was the teaming up of the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) and the special forces of Charles Taylor’s NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia) to overthrow the government run by President Joseph Momoh.

In the first year of the war, large portions of eastern and southern territories rich in alluvial diamonds were taken over by the RUF. The government’s response was ineffective and in April of 1992 the NPRC (National Provisional Ruling Council) hurried a military seize of government. By the end of 1993, the SLA (Sierra Leone Army) was able to successfully push the RUF rebels back to the Liberian border.  Even so, fighting continued after the RUF recovered.

In 1997, the AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council) was established as the new government led by Johnny Paul Koroma, by a group of SLA officers. Freetown was then captured with little resistance by the RUF and AFRC. Koroma attempted to declare the war, but the response was violent: looting, rape, and murder. Afterwards, the ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group) forces intervened to retake Freetown. In 1999, negotiations between the RUF and the Sierra Leone government were promoted by world leaders resulting in the Lome Peace Accord.

The Lome Peace Accord was signed March 27, 1999 giving the vice presidency and control of Sierra Leone’s diamond mines to the commander of the RUF. In return, the RUF had to cease fighting and allow the UN peacekeeping forces to monitor the disarmament process of the RUF. The RUF’s compliance was not consistent and very sluggish, which makes it unsurprising that in 2000 the RUF rebels once again advanced upon Freetown.  Finally, the British Operation Palliser, with the help of a renewed UN mandate and Guinean air support, was able to defeat the RUF and take control of Freetown. President Kabbah was officially able to declare the Sierra Leone Civil War over on January 18, 2002.

There was a lot about Sierra Leone, and especially about the civil war, that I didn’t know of before doing my research. I was surprised to find out how long the civil war lasted and how powerful and persistent the RUF was in comparison to the Sierra Leone government. In addition, it was shocking that so many outside groups had to intervene in order to stop the RUF and restore Sierra Leone’s government to a state of power. As a side note, I was born in 1992, which was during the time the civil war was taking place. It is interesting to think that while I was learning to talk and walk and all the way up through the traumatic event of 9/11, the conflict of the civil war in Sierra Leone was going on too and I was completely oblivious to it. It reminds me that although thing are fine right here, right now, in my own life, state, or country, there are horrible or impactful events occurring in other parts of the world. It reminds me of the importance of being aware; to pull myself out of my own little world, even if just for a minute, and to look outside, to learn and become aware of other major issues going on around the world. If I’m not looking, who will?

Response to Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party

            There was quite a bit in Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine that I found surprising and uncomfortable. I did some research on the Chinese Cultural Revolution before I read this book, but it was different reading about what happened in an educational setting than reading a book about a child who’s actually experiencing it. There’s definitely more of an emotional response when you’re reading about it through the eyes of a child. The things that struck me most were events that mirrored what happened in Nazi Germany during WWII. It was scary similar. I found it really hard to read when people were disappearing, being sent to work camps, and especially when people were being brutally punished in front of the people they knew and even in front of their loved ones, yet no one stepped up to stop them, or rarely did. Yes, that last one was probably the most difficult thing to read about. I cannot imagine having to live through something like that. The feeling of hopelessness those people felt must have been overwhelming.

            This book really made me think and look at my daily life and remind myself how good I've got it. Whatever “bad days” I've had are nothing compared to what the people who lived during the Cultural Revolution endured, suffered, and lost. Before the Cultural Revolution hit, the children must have felt the same as I do now. They must have been so unaware of what was coming for them and thought that something like that could never happen. At least it seemed that way for the main character in Revolution is Not a Dinner Party. It makes me realize the same could happen here, to me, no matter how unlikely it seems at the moment.

            Aside from how shocking some of the material in this book was, I thought it was important to know who wrote the story. I read the “about the author” section in the back of the book and was both surprised and not surprised that the book was written by a woman who grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution. I was surprised because I hadn't known it for sure and I was excited to know that this book was written by someone who experienced this first hand. It made me feel better and more confident that I had trusted her so much to tell me this story. This leads to why I was not surprised. I was not surprised because I had the sense while reading this book that the author had to have lived through the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Someone who hadn't wouldn't have been able to portray it so well. Something that carries so much emotion and weight needs to be written by someone who has experienced it firsthand otherwise the readers won’t find it as believable and it won’t have the same affect on them. A reliable author and narrator are very important things to have when it comes to a book about a real historical event, even when the book is a work of fiction. I really enjoyed reading this book because I could trust the author and the narrator and everything in it spoke so well to what I discovered in my research. I found this book very believable and eye opening to what it must have been like to be a child during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Research on China and Chinese Cultural Revolution

I knew a little bit of general information about China before I began my research, such as its location and population size, but I was excited to learn some new things about it that I hadn't already known. I began my research with some general information about China to fill in the gaps of things that I had a rough understanding of. Out of my research I discovered that China, or the People’s Republic of China, is the world’s second largest country by land area. Russia has obviously got to be number one on that list, but it’s still pretty impressive that China is next in line behind Russia.

China is also the most populous country in the world with a population of over 1.35 billion. I already knew that it was the most populated country, just because it’s a widely known fact, but I had no idea how large the population was in terms of numbers. I wanted to compare this to the US so I looked it up and the US population is approximately 313.9 million. That means China’s population is approximately 4.25 times larger than America’s. I just found that astounding considering how many people I come into contact with when I go out in public. Even though I knew China had a large population, in comparison to America’s, it’s much larger than I thought it was.

Another thing I already knew about China was its geographic location. However, I didn't know much about its border size and how many countries it shares borders with. China is located in East Asia and has the world’s longest combined land border. It also shares borders with 14 nations, which is the same as Russia but larger than any other country in the world. Some of the countries it shares borders with are Nepal, North Korea, and India.

After getting a better grasp on some general information about China, I decided to do some research on something that I know near nothing about, the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, more commonly known as the Chinese Cultural Revolution, was a social-political movement and the goal was to enforce communism in China. Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party of China at the time, wanted to remove capitalist tradition and cultural elements from Chinese society. To get rid of the “revisionists,” whose aim was to restore capitalism, Mao acted through violent class struggle. China’s youth took to Mao’s appeal and formed groups around the country called Red Guard groups. These groups enforced Mao’s communist view and the children in these groups pressured their parents to conform as well. Mao disliked intellectuals and creative people, because he saw them as a threat, so art and literature were removed from the schools and basically banned except for the use to promote communism in propaganda.

As I read more and more about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, my mind kept wondering to Germany’s Third Reich in WWII. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Both wanted conformity, both got the youth involved to pressure adults into assimilating as well, both banned literature and the arts from schools and instead taught collectivism. Because I had no idea what The Chinese Cultural Revolution was, I had no idea how similar it was to Nazi Germany. Although it may be slightly less severe than Germany’s Third Reich, It’s frightening to know that this type of movement has happened more than once in the history of the world. Even though this is an uncomfortable subject to think about, it’s important that we do research it, and teach it, and learn the patterns so that if something like this were to happen again we may realize what’s happening and stop it before it’s too late.

Research on US Immigration Policy

There is an awful lot that I didn't and still don't know about US immigration policy. In my research, I read through a brief history of it and was surprised about a lot that I had read. I had no idea that immigration policy in the US dated back to the early republic. Immigration began to surge after the Civil War which caused the Supreme Court to rule that immigration regulation was a federal responsibility. In turn, they passed the Immigration Act of 1882 which required each immigrant to pay fifty cents to be admitted into the country. I looked it up and today this equals about twelve dollars, which is nothing compared to what some illegal immigrants pay to cross the border today. However, not just anyone was allowed in. They rejected anyone who was likely to become a public charge. There were more acts instilled as Chinese workers arrived to work on projects, like the transcontinental railroad, which prohibited laborers from entering the country. These included the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Alien Contract Labor laws of 1885 and 1887.  

            Congress passed more restrictions on immigration in the US in the 1900’s because of the arrival of 24 million immigrants from 1900-1924. This is known as the “Great Wave.” By 1907, polygamists, political radicals, people with physical or mental disabilities, and unaccompanied children were also refused admittance into the country. In addition, the Gentleman’s agreement gave Japanese these immigration restrictions too. I thought this was really interesting because, if I understand this right, it means that America not only managed to exclude these groups of people but managed to get Japan to do the same. It is one thing to reject people who have committed crimes or who may commit crimes again because obviously you don’t want to invite people into your home if you know they’re going to cause problems; however, rejecting those who have no control over their disabilities (mental or physical) is incredibly wrong. We should strive to help those in need, not banish them.

            As I continued through the US immigration policy history, more and more restrictions were piled onto the others, especially after WWI and September 11, 2001.  After 9/11, more control over the border was given to the military and in 2002 the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act were passed. Recently, the debates about immigration haven’t settled down. In fact, they've gotten worse. Now America is dealing with the repercussions of all of the controversial bills they've passed, such as the authority to question anyone “reasonably suspected” of being illegal. This has caused things like mass amounts of racial profiling which causes even more debate and issues. We’re blurring the lines of what is morally right and wrong just to keep people out of our country.

While I don’t believe in just letting everybody and anybody into the US, I do think the process for those who are willing to make a better life for themselves and their families while also making good contributions to America should be made easier. The process is so long and complicated that most families find it easier just to come into the country illegally which, as we've seen, doesn't help us or them much in the long run. But then again, these policies were put there for other reasons then just keeping bad people out.  Letting tons of immigrants into the US could also cause more problems as far as population goes. Population growth would then affect many other parts of the economy, like jobs for example. I’m not entirely sure what the solution to all of this is, but there’s got to be something better than what we’re doing now. There’s got to be a solution that will both benefit immigrants who wish to contribute and make good for the country and their families as well as keeping the population numbers under control. Maybe there’s not, but hopefully someday we’ll find it.