This scene is in the exposition and is explaining Ishmael’s reaction to the refugees who are fleeing from danger. It portrays Ishmael as an innocent young boy who is oblivious to dark things like war. He tries to relate these stories he is hearing to movies, and things he has seen on the news, but has trouble accepting these horrific tales. The adjective he uses to describe the stories is …show more content…
I stopped only at streams to drink water I felt as if somebody were after me. Often my shadow would scare me and cause me to run for miles. Everything felt awkwardly brutal” (Beah 49).
Ishmael is trekking through the woods to escape what he left behind during this part of the story. He is becoming increasingly paranoid as he is all alone, and hasn’t slept for days. His mental health seems questionable. The author is developing a theme that revolves around hopelessness and desperation, and I have a distinct and utter feeling things are only going to get worse as Ishmael continues his journey. I wonder if Ishmael will soon run into some people who will help him or recruit him onto their side of the fighting in this war.
“So I couldn’t bring myself to be completely happy. It was much easier to be sad than to go back and forth between emotions, and this gave me the determination I needed to keep moving. I was never disappointed, since I always expected the worse to happen. There were nights when I couldn’t sleep but stared into the darkest night until my eyes could see clearly through it. I thought about my family and whether they were alive” (Beah