A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah Summary

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Unraveling the Enigma of Dissociation: Exploring its Impact on Human Behavior “If dissociation has been your body’s primary survival strategy, you might experience mindfulness as terrifying” (Gregory, Melanie). Sympathy is the common enemy of people positioned in a life-threatening situation. When scolded for harming others in a manner that characterizes their character, people will perform acts to the extremities which allows for reality to dissipate in their perception of both violence and the real world. Psychological effect embraces these ideologies and emphasizes the enigmas of a person’s mind and motives for continuing such behavior. This concept is presented numerous times in Ishmael Beah’s, A Long Way Gone, as Beah undergoes many encounters …show more content…
This metaphorically translates to the violence portrayed in his country, and the moon’s discreet following shows Beah’s reluctance to grasp unfolding events. From being a victim of the innocent stories his family told beneath the stars and sky, he is now brought into its imagination and can not retreat back to a place of safety. A consistent reminder of his happiness before the war through seeing the night sky daily renders his ability to process new events and thus wants to cower. Ultimately, the moon can never hide, even behind clouds, translating to his inability to show complete innocence moving forward. Without his family’s reassurance and guidance to progress as a strong individual, Beah is left thinking of the worst possible case scenarios, which are motivated towards violence. He can no longer have a virtuous being indoctrinating him, so through the absence of moral alignment Beah is led to think negatively and promote violent strategies throughout the remainder of the war. Beah needs constant verification and validation for committing certain crimes due to a lack of human contact and eventually adapts bizarre coping mechanisms in response to human
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