FLORIAN VORLEITER
AUTHOR BIO
The author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is Ishmael Beah. In the
beginning of the autobiography, a brief summary is given about the main events that happened in
Ishmael’s life. The website, www.alongwaygone.com, also gives some insight on his life.
Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leon in 1980. At twelve years of age, Ishmael fled
attacking rebels in search for a better place. At thirteen, he had been picked up by the
governmental army and learned what horrific things he was capable of doing. At sixteen, 1996,
he was removed from fighting by The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In 1998, he
moved to the United States and finished his last two years of high school in the United Nations
International School in New York. In 2004, he graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor
of Arts in political science. Ishmael is currently a member of the Human Rights Watch
Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee and has spoken in front of the United Nations,
the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities at the
Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, and many other organizations fighting for children’s
rights around the world. He is also the head of the Ishmael Beah Foundation, which is dedicated
to helping former child soldiers forgive themselves, to regain their humanity, and “reintegrate
into society.” He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
FLORIAN VORLEITER
SETTING BACKGROUND RESEARCH
In the beginning of the autobiography, a map is presented of Sierra Leon with Ishmael’s
journey throughout the book displayed. The map could not be found online so I attempted to take
picture of it. I will redo the pictures with a better camera later on since it may be hard to see.
The journey starts in Mogbwemo, Ishmael’s hometown. Mombimbi is a quarter where
the foreigners who worked for the same American company as his father lived. That is where
Ishmael was first introduced to rap through the big TV. He and his friends also often went
swimming in their swimming pool. Ishmael’s house was made of clay brick and a tin roof. What
I noticed about Ishmael’s surroundings was that he has more access to more technology than
Emmanuel Jal did. For example, Ishmael’s dad owns a radio that he uses to listen to the BBC
news. Also, Ishmael has access to a TV in his hometown and he had the opportunity of attending
school, back when his father could afford it. I think it may mainly be because of the difference in
time periods. War Child took place in the 1950s while A Long Way Gone took place in the 1980s.
On the way to Mattru Jong for a talent show, Ishmael stopped by in Kabati, which is
where Ishmael’s grandmother lives. Before the war, there was a thick forest on the side of the
village that his grandmother lived on and coffee farms on the other side. A river flowed from the
forest to the edge of the village and into a swamp. Above the swamp banana farms could be seen
passed the horizon. There was one main dirt road going through Kabati that had holes and
puddles that ducks liked to bathe in. In the backyards of houses, you would often see birds
nesting in mango trees.
In Mattru Jong, refugees would stream in from the river side of the town. Because rumors
were passed that the rebels would attack Mattru Jong next, Government troops were deployed in
strategic places. The soldiers were convinced that the rebels would come from across the river,
so they set up heavy artillery on the wharf. Messengers from the rebels kept delivering invasion
threats so a 7 p.m. curfew was set. This made Mattru Jong appear as a ghost town because
everyone was in their hiding spots. In Mattru Jong, Ishmael and his three friends stayed in the
verandah room of Khalilou’s house. It was a small room with a tiny bad that the four had to share.
It was so small their feet would hang off the ends of the bed.
The setting background research will grow as I read on into the book, and all the places
that Ishmael went to are revealed.