A Long Way Gone - reflections

From a purely technical perspective, there is little about Beah’s text, A Long Way Gone that is remarkable. At times his writing is lacking in what I have come to take for granted in literature – his prose is not “beautiful,” and the focus on some details seems unbalanced or irrelevant. However, I have found in life that it is a huge mistake to view anything from one perspective – especially one that is so… technical. Beah’s text is powerful, moving, and beautiful while horrifically ugly at the same time – and not for any outstanding gift of poetics.

I am glad to know that A Long Way Gone has received the attention and credit that it has. Though I am sure that there will be plenty of critics that focus on the writing rather than what is being told to them, it does not change the fact that Beah relates an absolutely remarkable experience. It is difficult for me to imagine, with my lack of any similar experience, the horror and trauma that is felt by countless people across the world that are affected by civil wars, genocide, slavery (in its various forms), and loss of home/family. The closest that I am able to come to understand this is through texts like Beah’s. When reading this text, a reader has no choice but come face to face with the reality of what has largely been conveniently ignored by most of our western society. In day-to-day life, it is altogether too easy to ignore what is ugly in the world, and focus instead on how the Vikings are playing or what’s for supper. Still, if this ugliness is not acknowledged and addressed, it puts us at risk to suffer similar fates. Beah’s text should serve not only as information that is relevant for our political leaders who address foreign policy, but for “average” citizens of nations across the world.

I knew a bit about the human trafficking in Western Africa and the problem with children soldiers in that part of the world as well, but did not understand nearly as much as I thought that I had. Beah’s vivid descriptions of the atrocities committed are troubling, but what is even more difficult to read is the effect that those experiences have on those involved. On page100, Beah recounts this very well: “my eyes caught the smashed head of another man. Something inside his brain was still pulsating and he was breathing. I felt nauseated… One of the soldiers was looking at me, chewing something and smiling… ‘You will get used to it, everybody does eventually,’ he said.” Not only does this kind of violence desensitize the individuals involved after prolonged exposure, it leaves a profound scar as well. We see this after Beah is taken by UNICEF to the hospital; he is not the same person that he once had been, and it requires intensive therapy for him to realize the truth in the statement “It is not your fault” (160).

Coincidentally, this genre and this book came up while I was preparing and teaching a lesson on human trafficking to supplement my final discussion on Kindred. My goals in the unit were to discuss the relevance of teaching and learning about slavery and racism from the 19th century with a modern audience. We also incorporated author intent in using a modern protagonist to explore this theme – it went well. In future years, I think I might go deeper with slavery in this unit, and explore the possibility of using additional texts beyond periodicals to discuss parallels with Kindred. A Long Way Gone would be a powerful book for students to read. I will recommend this text to any student who is interested in learning about global issues, and possibly offer this as a (optional) supplemental text to go along with Kindred next ye