Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. 

The Moon

The moon symbolizes happy childhood memories for Ishmael. He recalls an old man in his home village that repeated, “We must strive to be like the moon.” His grandmother tells him that this means we must behave and be good to others. Ishmael takes comfort in the moon when he is on his journey to find his family. There are times in the book when Ishmael can’t see the moon in the sky. During these times, he is lonely and sad. Ishmael describes the moon as retreating behind the clouds, much like a child hiding from danger. When Ishmael learns that his family is likely dead, the moon disappears entirely, symbolizing the loss of a his childhood innocence. Later when Ishmael is rehabilitating at Benin House, the moon reappears. He begins to speak of the moon again and talks about the shapes he saw in the moon as a child. When he and Esther are walking back to Esther’s house, Ishmael feels that the moon is following them. This suggests that Ishmael is on a path to healing.

Rap Cassettes

Rap cassettes represent Ishmael’s humanity. Before the war, twelve-year-old Ishmael listened to rap cassettes with his brother Junior. They enjoyed using them to dance and learn hip-hop lyrics. Later, Ishmael uses the tapes to convince a village chief that the boys are innocent children and not child soldiers. In this instance, having the cassettes saves Ishmael’s life. When Ishmael is ultimately forced to become a child soldier, he watches the cassettes burn in a fire. This symbolizes the end of Ishmael’s capacity to empathize with those he has been brainwashed into seeing as his enemies. Then at the end of the story, rap cassettes appear once more. While Ishmael is recovering at Benin House, Esther buys a Walkman and rap cassette for him. Even though Ishmael will never fully recover his lost innocence, the new rap cassette symbolizes hope that Ishmael’s journey from civilian to soldier and back to civilian is underway.

The Forest

The forest represents both safety and danger. Early on in the story, it provides the very things Ishmael needs to survive: shelter and safety. It lies beyond the villages, and people retreat into the dark cover of the forest when fighting reaches their homes. When Ishmael reaches his grandmother’s village, all he finds are footprints leading toward the forest, suggesting others sought its cover, too. When Ishmael finds himself in a dark forest alone, he first wants to find a way out, but then he decides that it is better to stay where ehe is, even if he is lost and lonely. The sounds of the forest also offer some comfort and help to distract Ishmael from thinking about his family and the war.

Later, the darkness of the forest takes on a different significance. While in Yele, the lieutenant tells the children that the forest is full of rebels, waiting to kill them. The military begins to train the boys to fire guns in the forest. Then, Ishmael’s first fight with the rebels takes place in the forest. Ishmael’s friends Josiah and Musa die in the forest during this battle. During his time as a child soldier, Ishmael sleeps in forests with his squad as they hunt rebels. Although the forest originally represents shelter and safety, the child soldiers infiltrating the forest suggests shelter and safety have been compromised.