The second part of the book is a roller coaster of emotions. We go from sad to happy in a couple of minutes and then we get sad again. In the very beginning of this section, the boys saw the ocean for the first time. That really amused me because I’ve been living by the Atlantic ocean since I was born. They seemed so happy and curious at the same time and I felt that quite strange as I never thought that some people might have never seen the ocean.
The methods the soldiers used to focus the boys in the war were at most, harsh. They used to say: “The rebels had cut off the heads of some people’s family members and made them watch, burned entire villages along with their inhabitants, forced sons to have intercourse with their mothers, hacked newly born babies in half because they cried too much, cut open pregnant woman's stomach, took their babies out and killed them...” That quotation made me feel really bad because everything they said is true. It really happened. This serves to show the cruelty that the human being can reach.
When the soldiers found them, they were safe, but not for too long. They were forced to engage the war against the rebels to revenge their families and friends deaths. We were able to see Beah's, conflict against himself when he was in the middle of the gun fires. He should have fired his weapon to live but he couldn’t. Until he made the first shot. When he killed the first person, his problem went away and he let his “evil side” win. Although it is wrong, we can’t blame him. He was fighting for his own life. Who wouldn’t?
I am really surprised with the ways the book is taking. My predictions on what will happen next are usually wrong. It is really interesting how the writer alternates with high tension moments and low tension moments. I’m anxious for the next chapters.
That quote was extreme! It's hard to believe a human being is capable of committing such violent and cruel crimes, especially to the young babies. It's sickening. It was surprising how everything took over Ishmael and how violent he became so quickly. It was almost as if everything had built up inside of him and he was finally able to let loose and make the rebels suffer.
ReplyDeleteMikayla