HORROR AND TERROR IN ISHMAEL BEAH’S A LONGWAY GONE: MEMOIR OF A BOY SOLDIER

Abstract

The present study examines of Ishmael Beah’s autobiography, entitled A Long way Gone: Memoir of a Boy Soldier. It is a psychological scrutiny of the brutality of war and its repercussions on the development of the children’s sense of morality. Using the Freudian theories to examine the memoir resulted in discovering the concepts of latency, melancholia, and mourning. Furthermore, a thorough investigation of this phenomenon induces that the availability of children as a cheap alternative to adult soldiers was one of the reasons behind child recruitment. On the other hand, Beah encourages children and adults alike to engage in the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Re-integration (DDR) programs which aim to reintegrate children into their societies and reunite them with their families.