Journal #1 - Jose

After reading the first quarter of the book, the main feelings that take upon me are sadness and pity. Ishmael Beah tells us the story of the civil war which happened in Sierra Leone during the 90’s with all the atrocities and details. “The breeze brings the faint cries of those whose last breaths are leaving their mangled bodies. I walk past them. Their arms and legs are missing; their intestines spill out through the bullet holes in their stomachs; brain matter comes out of their noses and ears. The flies are so excited and intoxicated that they fall on the pools of blood and die.”(Pg. 18). After reading this description, I got queasy. The richness of detail which Ishmael tells the story makes us recreate image in our heads. It’s almost if those memories were yet fresh in his mind.

When he was with his brother and friends, they were feared by many. That might have made them feel the same “power” the rebels felt. At the very first time they were captured by, with his words, “huge men” I found my self very apprehensive because I didn’t know what would happen with them. I could almost feel the same pain he described when they tied them so strongly their elbows were touching each other.

In my opinion, the climax of this section of the book is the part the guys are captured by the rebels. At that point, anything could happen. I must admit that I thought they would die there or, at least, suffer some kind of torture. The escape was really surprising for me. When he split up with his friends and had to survive by his own for two months in the jungle, I felt sorry for him. To conclude, I guess been in a large group again will bring him problems.