A Long Way Gone Ch. 18 Questions

Chapter 18 Questions

1. Why does Ishmael believe he has nothing to live for anymore? Ishmael believed he has nothing to live for anymore, because he has no family.
2. How does Ester treat Ishmael? What does she do to comfort him? Esther treat Ishmael like family. She put her arms around Ishmael and pulled him closer to her to comfort him.
3. Who is Abigail? Describe her. Abigail is a girl he had seen during Ishmael's first two semesters.
4. Who are the visitors that came to the center to visit? Describe their appearance. The visitors that came to the center to visit were from the European Commission, the UN, UNICEF, and several NGOs who arrived in a convoy of cars. They wore suits and ties and shook hands with each other. All of the visitors were all smiling, sometimes adjusting their ties, some were taking notes on the writing pads, some looked into the boys sleeping places, and the others took off their jackets and played hand- wrestling with the boys.
5. Do you think these visitors made him nervous? I don't think the visitors made Ishmael feel nervous.
6. What did Esther want Ishmael to do for the talent show? Esther wanted Ishmael to sing his reggae songs for the talent show.
7. What did the Mr. Kamara tell Ishmael after the event? Mr. Kamara told Ishmael that he and his friends did really well at the talent show. He asked Ishmael if he would like to be the spokesperson for the center. He wants Ishmael to write his own speech about child soldiers whenever he feels comfortable to do so. For the meantime they will write him something to read.
8. What would he tell people at gatherings in Freetown? Ishmael would talk about child soldiering and how it must be stopped. He would always tell people that he believes children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings if given a chance.
9. Who do you think Ishmael felt when he saw Mohamad? And why? Ishmael was shocked to see his childhood friends Mohamad at the center when he was on the end of his sixth month. The last time he saw him was when he left Mogbewmo with Talloi and Junior for a performance in Mattru Jong.
10. Who is Tommy? Describe. Tommy was his uncle who lived in the city. Ishmael's father told him that he was a carpenter.
11. What does “repatriated” mean? Repatriated means the process of reuniting ex- child soldiers with their former communities.
12. Describe Tommy as he walks inside and first meets Ishmael. The man walked over to where Ishmael was sitting, and bent over and embraced him long and hard. he then began to cry. Tommy crouched on his heels next to Ishmael and apologized that he had never came to see during those years. He wished he had met him before.
13. Tel me a time where you reunited with someone you haven’t seen for a long time. What was it like. Well I've been reunited with a lot of people that I haven't seen for a long time. Its great, because there was a lot of things to say and catching up to do. It was weird too, because they all changed.
14. How often was Tommy going to visit? Tommy is going to visit Ishmael every weekend.
15. Why do you think Ishmael would feel guilty if he told his friends about his uncle? Ishmael would feel guilty if he told his friends about his uncle, because no one from their families had been found. He also didn't want to destroy the silence that had returned after the ambulance's wailing died down.
16. Why did Ishmael love the walks with his uncle? Why were those walks important to him? Ishmael loved the walks with his uncle, because he had a chance to talk about his childhood, about growing up with his father and older brother.
17. How would you feel meeting your new family in his situation? I would feel really happy and relieved to meet my new family especially in his situation, because hes at the point when he needs support from a family.
18. Where does uncle live? Describe it. Ishmael's uncle lived in New England Ville, a hilly area in the western part of Freetown. His house overlooked the city, and from the verandah you could see the ships in the bay. His house had no electricity or running water, and the kitchen was made of zinc.
19. Describe his aunt.Ishmael's aunt was a short woman with very dark skin, round cheekbones, and bright eyes.
20. How do you think she feels about Ishmael coming to stay with them? I think Ishmael's aunt felt OK about him staying with them.
21. What did Ishmael learn about his grandfather? Ishmael learned that his grandfather had many wives, and that his father had brothers he never talked about.
22. Tell me one thing you learned about your family. One thing I learned about my family, is most of them have anger issues like me. Another thing is that I had family members that I never knew about or existed.