The scene that I feel is most important in chapters 14 and 15 was in chapter 14. It is the scene where Ishmael and two other boys are chosen for a throat slitting competition. Ishmael really dramatizes this scene to show how far gone he has become in this war. Ishmael is no longer the same person whatsoever. He does not feel for the rebel that he kills and has become there very thing he didn’t want to become in the earlier chapters. I feel Ishmael chose to dramatize this scene to show his state of mind and how the war took control of him. I was personally shocked when reading this scene. When looking into the eyes of the rebel he is about to kill Ishmael states, “I didn’t feel a thing for him, didn’t think that much about what I was doing” (Beah 124). It was at this moment that I thought the boy that we were first introduced to was gone for good and he has become nothing more than a vicious killer.
There is no real explanation of the change in Ishmael other than the effects of war. War is a terrible thing and it makes people do terrible things. Ishmael just fell under the pressures of war and had no other choice but to become that way. He tries to justify what he is doing it for his family. Personally I don’t see him as a bad guy whatsoever. I understand what he is doing and I get that war changes people. I don’t agree or think it's okay but I feel bad for him and still see him as that innocent boy with just twisted mind by the war. I don’t think Ishmael will ever fully recover but I feel when the war is over he will realize what he has become and try to rehabilitate himself. If i were in Ishmael’s shoes I think I would’ve done the exact same thing as him. I would’ve wanted vengeance for the killing of my family and the war would have eventually had its hold on me and I would’ve done the same things he did even if thinks its wrong right now. If I were a family member of someone that Beah had killed I’d never be able to see Beah as anything other than a killer. I personally never wish to lose a family member like that so I could never really imagine what I would do in that situation.
Hi Will!
ReplyDeleteI also don't see Ishmael as a bad guy. I like how you mentioned he felt the pressures of the war and didn't have a choice to become what he did. I do also see how he tries to justify his actions by the death of his family but I don't completely agree with it. From what we learned about his family in the beginning of the book, I don't see them ever wanting this revenge side of Beah to come out. But then again it comes down to the rule of to kill or to be killed so I do understand again why he became the way he did.