Chapter Three of Ishmael Beah'S Autobiography 'A Long Way Gone'

In this review, I will summarize chapter three of Ishmael Beah’s autobiography ”A Long Way Gone.” In this chapter, rebel forces invade the village where Ishmael has been staying since his own village was attacked.

Ismeal, Junior and other boys stayed at Mattru Jong and didn’t know what else to do. They heard that the rebels are coming. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) are stationed twenty miles away from Mattru Jong. When the town received news of the rebels coming, everyone was hiding in the forest for the night and hiding for a week. However, Ismael, Junior and other boys stayed in the city and lived in the house of Khalilou. Khalilou’s family asked them to take care of them and promise if that the situation is not improved, the rest of property will give to the boys. After another ten days, the rebels still have not come. Civilians thought that the rebels were not come at all, so they move back to their town Life is back to normal. But the rebels did come five days later. There were gunshots and everyone was panicked. There is only one escape route, which is through the muddy swamp that was adjacent to a tiny hill. Ishmael and other boys passed through the swamp. They reached the summit with many others. The rebels fired at them. Many people were killed, but the boys fled. They ran for an hour and the rebels chased them. Eventually the rebels gave up and returned to Mattru Jong.

This chapter continues to focus on terror., surreal and bloodiness. When Beah and his friends fled the village, they had to run hours after the rebels chased and fired at them. The terrorist acts of arrest and fled into the rebel’s army fueled the adrenaline they needed to escape.

The chaos of war was also exposed through the chaos in the attack. The villagers who tried to escape fled in the wrong way and went directly to the guns of the rebels. Many villagers encountered swamp and drowned themselves. Ishmael and his friends were hesitant to survive the civilians, but they chose to run in the direction with the least amount of gunshots and past the people who couldn’t be helped. While waiting for the rebels to arrive, the chaos and uncertainty of their daily lives increased the horror of life in the civil war. Through Ishmael’s experience, let us saw how innocent villagers were caught in government soldiers after the rebels fled and arrived

I also saw the strongly connection between Ismail, his brother and their four friends. When they fled from the village, Junior called back to Ishmael several times to make sure he was safe. Although every boy will run for himself, they still stick together to increase the chances of survival.

This chapter is full of contrasts, especially in times of peace and war. There is also a comparison of Beah’s cooking dinner, and gunfire is heard throughout the town. People live in sharp contrast to the life of the fallen body. Finally, there is a contrast between a life-filled voice and a town full of fear and death. Beah, Junior and other boys are now officially to run.

Cite this page