The scene I feel is important is the scene in chapter fourteen where Beah participates in a competition to see who can kill a rebel prisoner the fastest by slitting their throats. I believe that Beah chose to dramatize this particular scene because it shows the true horrors of what war can do to anyone’s morals. Although it’s one moment in a thousand events of the war, it’s a crucial part in the story because it paints a gruesome picture of how easily children are manipulated, especially when exposed to trauma. When Beah wrote, “The corporal gave the signal with a pistol shot and I grabbed the man’s head and slit his throat in one fluid motion...I dropped him on the ground and wiped my bayonet on him” (Beah 125). I felt truly disturbed. Even though we’re exposed to death more often than not these days, to remember that a child did this with no remorse or hesitation, is a whole other level of shocking.
If I were a family member of one of the men Beah killed, I would like to say I would be forgiving and understanding, but in reality I don’t think I would be. I can’t imagine one of my loved ones dying prematurely, let alone being murdered. The anger and pain I would feel would overshadow the part of me that would be understanding of the fact that it was kill or be killed, that it’s war, and that both sides of the war are basically fighting to survive.
I wrote about the same thing Bekah!!! I put down the same quote in my journal because i thought it was the most drastic change we have seen from Ishmael in this whole book so far. His morals did change a lot in this chapter so this was a food chapter and passage to talk about. These boys have been brainwashed but they still know what they are doing is morally wrong. I liked when you said in this journal its kill or be killed that is a perfect way of putting the situation they are in with the war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about being disturbed from the scene where Beah slit the throat of a prisoner for the sake of a game. Although I can understand why he did it. I believe Beah's vengeance for the death of his family has run so rampid in his mind that it clouds the very morals he once had.
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