Blogger Response #3

In the beginning of the book A Long Way Home Beah is a young preteen boy who respects his elders and loves his family. He is an average boy who lives his life playing soccer, listening to rap music and wanting to be like an American rap star. His life is much the same as any boys with laughter, dancing and the carefree fun of youth . A youth remembered with love and longing for a family he no longer had, "The sight of women preparing dinner always reminded me of the times I used to watch my mother cook. Boys weren't allowed in the kitchen, but she made an exception for me, saying, "You need to know how to cook something for your palampo life. "She would pause, give me a piece of dry fish, and then continue: "I want a grandchild. So don't be a palampo forever. "Tears would form in my eyes as I continued my stroll on the tiny gravel, roads in Mattru Jong. "
But the war had forced Beah to become more animal than boy. War had taken away his family, home, freedom and sense of right and wrong. The world that Beah knew had been washed away width blood and violence "Before the war a young man wouldn't have dared to talk to anyone older in such a rude manner. We grew up in a culture that demanded good behavior from everyone, and especially from the young. Young people were required to respect their elders and everyone in the community, "He had become something other than an innocent boy to survive. To "implement survival tactics" Beah would have to become what he feared and ran from, the very thing that had taken him away from his life.
The loss of innocence Beah experienced was largely due to the loss of control over his world, "Things changed rapidly in a matter of seconds and no one had any control over anything, " anyone who exists in that kind of environment becomes angry and violent.
But with the help of drugs and brainwashing, Beah, the lost wandering boy had become a drug addicted killing machine. He had replaced his home, and family with the love of killing and the soldiers of his unit. "We thought that we were part of the war until the end. The squad had been our family. " Beah and his friends had survived by giving themselves over to the war. This war that had taken even the food from their mouths and left them physical, spiritually, and emotionally starved.