Journal 7 by Patrick Lynch

Chapters 18 and 19 in A Long Way Gone have been the best chapters so far. They have lots of details and scenes that stick out and catch my attention. The new characters introduced are described really well and are very important to Ismael Beah.

The most important character besides Ismael to me has to be Esther. This is the first friend Beah makes that is after the war. She also a big impact in Beahs life because she helps him through the PTSD and brings him back into the world. Esther is also a very good friend to being and gives him gifts like the cassette player and cassettes that remind him of his childhood days.

I feel that Beahs rehabilitation has gone very well and is possible for him to fully recover. This is because he was integrated back into society by care from Esther and finding and being taken in by his Uncle Tommy. I would want him in my neighborhood because he isn't that hostile after being rehabilitated and would be nice to talk and hear his stories.

I find the scene where Beah travel to the interview and going through the whole process to be one of the best scenes in the book. The scenes where he talks about the walk to the building and how he describes the building almost makes me fell like I was there.


My favorite passage is from the beginning of Chapter 18. When Beah says "I feel as if there is nothing left for me to be alive for, I have no family, it is just me. No one will be able to tell stories about my childhood" and Esther responds with "think of me as your family, your sister" really shows the relationship between them and also shows how much Ether cares for Beah and the other childern. This impacted me because Beah lost his family and was really tough for him to recover from that but went Esther told Beah that she could be his family it shows Beah that you don't need to be related to have family.