A Long Way Gone Ch. 12 Questions

Part 1 questions:
A Long Way Gone

Ch.12 Questions

1. Describe the men they encountered as they walked. The men they encountered had dark faces as if they bathed them in charcoal, and they had extremely red eyes.
2. What is the setting like in the beginning of the chapter, and where are they? In the beginning, it seemed like they had finally found safety at Yele, because the village was full of chattering and laughter.
3. Describe what life was like in the village Yele, what did they do? The village, Yele, was full of chattering and laughter. Everyone spoke about the weather, planting seasons, hunting, and nothing about the war. People's faces assured them that there was nothing to worry about.
4. Why did Ishmael distance himself from the games? What was going on with him? Ishmael distanced himself from the games, because he was having migraines and nightmares.
5. What did he dream? Tell me a dream you had that kept you from sleeping?In Ishmael's minds eye, he would see sparks of flame, flashes of scenes he had witnessed, and the agonizing voices of children and women. Ishmael dreamt of that he was shot in the head. He was lying in his blood as people walked past him. A dog came by and began licking his blood feriously. He wanted to scare it away but was unable to move.
6. Describe Lieutenant Jabati. Lietenant Jabati was a tall man with barely any hair. His eyes were big and they complemented his full cheekbones, which looked as if he had something in his mouth. He was a quiet person, but his quietness had a forceful authority that all his men feared and respected. His face was so dark, that it took courage to have eye contact with him.
7. Does Ishmael join the fight against the rebels? Would you? Ishmael joined the fight, because it was better to stay at the village than to leave and get killed. Yes, I would the rebels as revenge for what they've done to my family, friends, and people.
8. What does lieutenant tell the boys, to get them to see what the rebels have done? The lietenant showed them some gruesome bodies, and said that this man and this child decided to leave this morning even though they were warned it was dangerous. The man insisted that he didnt want to be part of this war, so the lietenant let him go, and they both ended up getting hurt.
9. Do you think Lieutenant Speech was inspiring why? I think the lieutenant's speech was inspiring, because he inspired the men to kill the rebels for what they've done.
10. What was the training regime like? During the training, they had to run around the building for a few minutes. Then they began to learn to crawl in the bushes nearby. The training regime was somewhat similar to bootcamp.
11. What did they use the banana tree for? The boys were taken to a banana farm where they practiced stabbing the banana tree in which they visualize as rebels.



Part 2 questions

1. Do you think Ishmael is safe with the soldiers? I think Ishmael is safe with the soldiers.
2. What was the mood like in this village? The village was full of lively laughter and chatter, which seemed like there was nothing to worry about.
   
3. What “darkened the mood of the village”? The sight of the orphaned children darkened the mood of the village.
   
4. What did the soldier do in the evenings? In the evenings, the soldiers watched movies, played music, laughed, and smoked marijuana.
   
5. Why did Ishmael like busying himself with work all day? Ishmael was busying himself with work all day, because that was the only way he could distract himself from the thoughts that were giving him severe headaches.
   
6. How did the memory of the soccer league matches make him feel? The memory of the soccer league matches made him feel happy, because the sight of his parents' smile.
   
7. What did he do while the others played games in the village? Ishmael distanced himself from the games in the village and sat behind houses, staring into the open space.
   
8. Why was he getting the migraines? Ishmael was getting migraines, because of flashes of scenes he had witnessed and the agonizing voices of children and women would come alive in his head.
   
9. Describe Lieutenant Jabati. Lietenant Jabati was a tall man with barely any hair. His eyes were big and they complemented his full cheekbones, which looked as if he had something in his mouth. He was a quiet person, but his quietness had a forceful authority that all his men feared and respected. His face was so dark, that it took courage to have eye contact with him.
10. Why did Ishmael like reading Shakespeare?Ishmael liked reading Shakespeare, because reciting it made him feel that he was really good at English.
    
11. What did it mean that only few of the soldiers returned to the village? Only a few soldiers returned to the village meant that the rest that didnt return were killed.
    
12. What did the soldiers do with the prisoners? Prisoners were lined up and shot in the head.
    
13. What had happened to the body that was shown to the crowd? The body that was shown to the crowd, convinced the boys that its better to not leave the village.
    
14. What are some actions of the rebels described by the lieutenant? The lieutenant described how the rebels had cut off the heads of some people's family members and made them watch, burned entire villages along with their inhabitants, forced sonts to have intercourse with their mothers, hacked newly born babies in half, because they cried too much, cut open pregnant women stomachs, took the babies out and killed them.
    
15. Where were women and children supposed to go? Men and boys? All women and girls were asked to report to the kitchen, and men and boys to the ammunition depot.
    
16. Who were Ishmael’s tent companions? Ishmael's tent companions were Sheku and Josiah.
    
17. What happened to his tapes? Ishmael's tapes were thrown into the fire along with other old belongings.
    
18. How do you think the soldiers who were coming back from the front lines felt? I think the soldiers who were coming back from the front lines felt relieved to be back, then scared when they had to go back.
    
19. What did they tell the boys to brain wash them? They told the boys to visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed their parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to brainwash the boys.
    
20. When he finally could think, what was he thinking about? Ishmael was thinking about the rebels, visualizing scenarios of shooting or stabbing a rebel. He imagined capturing several rebels at once, locking them inside a house, sprinkling gasoline in it, and tossing a match.