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Summary: Chapter 18
Ishmael accepts Esther as his “temporary sister.” The next day, she tells him about a talent show to be put on for visiting officials from the UN and other organizations. Ishmael does a Shakespeare reading and a short hip-hop play he wrote, impressing the visitors. The center’s director, Mr. Kamara, asks Ishmael to become a spokesperson for the center. Some weeks later, a friend of Ishmael’s arrives at the center: Mohamed, from Mogbwemo. Family obligations had prevented him from coming along on the fateful trip to Mattru Jong for the talent show three years ago, but now Ishmael and Mohamed resume their friendship.
Leslie speaks with Ishmael about placing him with an adoptive family. Ishmael remembers an uncle in Freetown he’s never met—a carpenter named Tommy—whom Leslie is able to find. Tommy and Ishmael get acquainted during long walks every weekend until Ishmael is finally able to visit Tommy’s house. Ismael meets his aunt, Sallay, and his cousins. The boy, Allie, is older than Ishmael. Another cousin who is the daughter of another of Ismael’s uncles, Aminata, also lives in the neighborhood.
Summary: Chapter 19
After emotional goodbyes with Esther and his friends, Ishmael goes to live with Tommy and his family. For entertainment, they sometimes listen to stories recorded by a famous storyteller. One evening, Allie takes him to a pub for a dance where Ishmael dances with a girl and has a good time although he is sad when he remembers that his unit attacked a town during a school dance. Ismael and the girl date briefly until she gets too curious about Ismael’s past. Leslie informs Ishmael that Mr. Kamara has recommended Ishmael to speak at a conference in New York. Many other boys also interview for the assignment, but Ishmael is one of two who are chosen. Tommy learns of the trip when Mr. Kamara arrives to help Ishmael prepare for it and warns Ishmael that people often make false promises. But Mr. Kamara takes Ishmael shopping for clothes and arranges for him to get his passport and a visa and Ishmael leaves for the airport with the family’s blessings.
Analysis: Chapters 18–19
Ishmael’s transformation back to normal life is thematically essential to his story, and the long process begins in earnest in this section. The wounds caused by losing family and community to the war’s devastation may never be entirely healed, but by joining his uncle’s family in Freetown Ishmael is able to begin the process. The way Ishmael gains back family connections through his uncle and Esther are examples of Ishmael’s rehabilitation through new family connections. Ishmael recites Shakespeare for a new community, tying him back to his father, gone from his life but not forgotten. In addition, Ishmael is beginning to become an advocate for helping child soldiers, which is one way he feels he can redeem himself of the terrible deeds he committed in the war. Ishmael does not want innocent childhoods to be stolen from anyone else. His trip to New York and his mission there, to speak to delegates about child soldiers, signal that he has overcome some of the challenges of transformation back to normal life.
In Freetown with family and friends, the motif of war-time atrocities haunts Ishmael once again as he tries to lead a normal life. Ishmael dances with a girl, a display of normalcy that temporarily helps him overcome his past. But when he remembers attacking a town during a school dance, Ishmael becomes ashamed and overwhelmed. At such a young age, Ishmael must continually struggle with the memories of what he has done. Indeed, these are the images and dreams that haunt Ishmael Beah as an adult in Chapter 2. While still so close to the trauma, dancing with a girl his own age, Ishmael cannot keep the images from his mind, and dismisses a potential relationship rather than reveal his past to the girl. The atrocities he witnessed and those he committed himself are still preventing him from leading a normal life as a teenager.
