My symbol shows how in A long Way Gone, narrator Ishmael Beah locks his feelings and past memories away during his time at the Benin Rehabilitation Center like someone would lock away money in a safe. Ishmael created a wall between his past from the war and the present and does not let anyone through to help him. Until, a nurse named Esther got through to Ismael's memories that he had been hiding for months. Ismael only talks about his experiences in the war with Esther for a long time before opening up to anyone else. The combination lock shows that even though the safe is tightly sealed, there will always be a combination to unlock it. These child soldiers can always be rehabilitated.
"Esther got me to tell her some of m dreams. She would just listen and sit quietly with me" (Beah, 160). The dreams that Ishmael was having in this quote were about his past memories. This quote connects to the symbol because this was one of the first times that Ishmael opens up about his dreams (or memories). This is one of the first times that he "unlocks the safe" of his past.
No comments:
Post a Comment