Theme -hjc- #7

Out of many outstanding themes in the book a long way gone, most clearly seen theme is that war is horrible. Through out the story us readers experienced, the gruesome journey Ishmael had to go through.

To start with, thousands of civilians were being killed. The R.U.F killed thousands of civilians by cutting their throats, shooting, burning and even burying them alive. These people were innocent and must not have been damaged. Due to the civilian deaths, thousands of children such as Ishmael became orphans and had to go through horrible childhood.

Thousands of children were forced to join the R.U.F and fight against the government. These children were scarred for life by killing people. By reading Ishmael's journey, the effect of him being a child soldier was clearly seen. He became more emotionally fragile and didn't think of killing others as serious deal.