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Ishmael Beah, the protagonist and author, tells throughout A Long Way Gone the tale of his childhood, in which he lived through the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. Ishmael narrates the story years later as a high school student living in New York City, and begins the book by explaining that he and his brother Junior are away from the rest of their family when the fighting begins. Instead of simply fleeing, the boys attempt to find their loved ones, signifying that to Ishmael, his family is a driving force. As he embarks on his horrifying journey from village to village, skirting danger and struggling to survive, Ishmael recalls many fond memories of his family. These memories seem to feed him, even when he is starving, and to give him a reason to push forward. Throughout the book, family sustains him, and after his traumatic experiences as a child soldier, it’s this connection to other people and the promise of family that enables him to heal.
When Ishmael is captured, the military uses drugs, training, and a mix of brutality and kindness to transform Ishmael and his friends into brutal child soldiers. That Ishmael earns the nickname “Green Snake” marks this complete altering of his identity. After Ishmael is saved from the war by representatives from UNICEF, he is sent to a rehabilitation center to address his brutal conditioning. At first Ishmael fights the rehabilitation he is offered, not just because he’s been conditioned to do so but because he doesn’t want to confront the suffering he’s caused, nor the knowledge that this is the same suffering that was done to him. Ultimately, the compassion he receives at the hands of Esther, and the acceptance he receives from Uncle Tommy’s family, allow Ishmael the chance to rediscover his humanity.
