The book I'm reading is A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. It is about a young boy whose village was attacked by rebel forces, causing him to become separated from his mother, father, and little brother. He then travels from village to village looking for a place of refuge, with his older brother and a handful of friends But some horrible things happen to the group, and Ishmael is forced to become a child soldier. He does not like what he is doing until he sees one of his friends die while fighting. It is like something inside him died, causing him to become heartless. He has the choice to either kill or be killed, and he chooses to kill. Three years later, when he is sixteen, Ishmael is removed from the war and brought into a rehabilitation center for child soldiers. It is there where he learns to care and love again, to regain his lost humanity.
The realization that I gained from reading A Long Way Gone is that almost everyone can be saved if you give them a chance. In the beginning, the children don't like the rehabilitation center. They disobey what the leaders (of the rehabilitation center) say and fight often. They even trashed what they were given. But over time, the children begin to calm down and actually listen. Eventually, they are allowed to travel outside of the center, and even go live with family (if there is anyone available).
This realization also occurs in prisons. Some prisons have a program that provides education, rehabilitation and reentry support to incarcerated men and women in prisons and jails throughout the United States. These programs offers prison inmates encouragement and the necessary support to take stock of the life experiences that have propelled them into criminal activity, take responsibility for their criminal behavior, change life-long patterns of violence and addiction, and build productive lives (2014 The Lionheart Foundation). A rehabilitation program is also available to people recovering from drug and alcohol abuse, people with stress and/or anger management, and people who need help with life skills. When given the chance, most people will take it and try to become better or go back to their life the way it was before it became ruined.
http://lionheart.org/prison/
That was a very well written blog, after reading it I am interested in reading the book "A Long Way Gone" and I learned new interesting information about the prison programs and how war can really mess someone up.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. I thought the book seemed like a good read because of this post. I liked how you connected this book to prisons and I also liked how you connected the realizations.
ReplyDeleteJordan, I really liked how descriptive your synopsis was. Even though it was short, it was very thorough and intriguing. I would really like to read the book now. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI like how you related Ishmael's story with prisons and rehabilitation programs, but I would say that it is unlikely for anyone to be the same after they have done or seen horrible things. And in some cases, society itself may not allow the person to be fully rehabilitated, as with felons in the United States sometimes not being able to get jobs or vote.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you used the central idea and connected it to something that many people don't give much notice to in society. Your central idea could also have been used as a moral and that is really cool how you incorporated it into your blog. Good Job!
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