Ch. 21 Response

Chapter 21. This chapter is OK in my opinion. It is sorta boring most of the time. I found it very interesting that through out the hole chapter he was fighting the urge to burst out and fight or kill. That tales some real self control. Because i know that if I was in that position and I was put through all that he was I would probably not be able to control my self.

The buss ride also is very strange. How the solders make them get off for no apparent reason and sometimes make them pay because they feel like it. It is just wrong that they did that. But you can't really do anything about it because it has already happened.

The ending to me was not all that good. I mean, I like some ending rather then how he ended it. But i also find the ending to be very good, in how he uses a story that has a question with a almost imposable answer to make you think. If i had to answer that question i would not kill the monkey but put it in a cage because that wouldn't kill it but i still wouldn't be left alone, like it said that if you didn't shoot it, or leave it alone, it would kill your mother. But the answer he gave at the end i feel is probably the best answer possible for that situation

Ch. 19 & 20 Response

Chapter 19 was a chapter that was a bit comical. The fact that he did not know what a elevator was, was kinds funny. Then when he just stood there and waited for the doors to open i felt almost embarrassed for him. I was happy to find out that he was going to the UN, even though it was obvious that he was going to go. I also like the fact that when the interviewer asked if he has anything else to addd he said hat he was just wondering why the man was smialing.

Chapter 20 was a very happy chapter. When he first found out how cold it is and about snow was sorta funny. The discrpition he used in to say how cold it was in New York was deeply detailed. I found it a bit weard that he pictured New York as a place where people shot other people and got away with it. Towards th end of the chapter he was saying how he was going to miss the city was sad. In how he thought he will most likely never see it again. His final quote in the chapter to me felt reassuring that even if he died someone will know his story and will pass it on for other to know. In all, I liked these chapters because they showed how our parts of the world were very different. I am almost sad for this book to end. I really don't want it to end because it is so good. This is mostlikely my favorite book i have ever read.

Ch. 17 & 18 Response

Chapters 17 and 18 are some very joyful and happy chapters. Chapter seventeen starts out with the nurse "bribing" Ishmael with Coca-Cola to come into the hospital to get a check up. After talking to Alhaji and drink the soda he decides to go in and get a check up. upon entering and sitting down he looks around and see a chart with the amount of checkups each person has had. Once the nurse has taken the chart down she preforms a standard checkup. A few days later Alhaji tells Ishmael that the nurse wants to see him. So he goes and finds out that she wanted to give him a Walkman.

Through out the rest of chapter 17 he talks bout what he did in the war and how he got a few scars. He really goes in depth on hew he got a scar on he foot. The next chapter he finds out that his uncle is still alive and is close by. After getting the news he gets to meet his uncle. At first Ishmael thinks that this guy is not his uncle. But after the man hugs him and cries he finally believes that he is his uncle. Then the rest of the chapter is bout how he and his uncle bond and meet the rest of the family.

My thoughts on these chapters are that they really show that eventhough he kill numerious people he is still a kid inside and nouthing can remove that. There are a lot of examlpes of this throught the chapters. Like when he hugs his uncle back is showing that he is still compashionat for others. But eventhough he is more like a kid he still retains some of the thing he learned from the war times. Like towards the end of chapter 18. When the kids are laughing and smileing. But Ishmael still feels happy but he grew accostomed to not showing his feelings. Overall these two chapters are very different from the others in the way that there is no violence and have a happy mood.

Book Ideas

I can only think of a few books like 1984, The Giver, and Lord of the Flys. 1984 has a deep meaning that reall makes the book come to lif to me, The Giver is just plane out a good book, and i have not read lord of the flys but i always wanted to.

Ch15 & 16 Response

These chapters are violent for what they are about. It starts out with telling you about the fighting and killings he and his comrades did from ch. 14 to ch. 15. After it finishes talking about the fighting it tells you about some men dressed in jeans and shirts with UNICEF on them. He says that he sees the men talking to his leader and shaking hands with him. After they come out the lieutenant said "when I point at you, fall out and form a line by the private." Them the lieutenant goes down the line pointing to a few people including Ishmael. Ishmael says that he feels confused and doesn't know what is happening. Then he and the others selected are taken off far away to a camp for them ti recover and from the drugs and fighting. At the first camp they cause a lot of havoc. SO they are sent to another camp where even though they cause trouble the adults just say it's their fault and move on. The fact of doing this makes the boys even angrier and makes them do meaner and meaner things. While going through all of this they are going through withdrawal. All of this put together is just like a living hell for all of them. When i started reading these chapters i thought it would be boring. But by the end i was proven way wrong. These chapters are very violent.

Ch 13 & 14 Response

Chapter 13 is a very violent chapter. It starts off with him getting the day off of training and having fun playing soccer. Later there is a soldier offering him a white pill. Since he doesn't know what it is he takes it. Later they are sent off to war. This part of the chapter has very fine detail. He almost immerses you in the action of gunfire and RPG explosions. What makes this so graphic is the fact that When He was just laying their blood was spilling all over him. Then he sees his friend fly overhead and fall right on a tree stump. Shattering his spine instantly. That seemed very painful and had to be one of the most gruesome ways to die.

Chapter 14 is very short but packs a lot into it. One of the reasons that this chapter is disturbing is because they have a contest to see who can kill a man, by slitting his throat, the fastest. That is just too cruel for anyone to experience. Then the way he says that the other prisoners thrash about and fight in the arms of their executioners in pain is a mind-burning image. For not being long this chapter really packs a punch.

Ch. 11- 12 Response

Chapter 11 is an emotional chapter. From happiness to sorrow, it just takes you through every emotion. Like the way he expressed the way that the man was asking them for help but they knew that they couldn't say no. When they come upon the village is was a gruesome sight for them, to see the dead pileup like the leaves in the early morning. Then when he said that the woman and her child ran out of the locked house on fire, I could literally picture the woman running and screaming in pain from being shrouded in fire. The way he said he could see the pain and fear of death on their face was truly sad. Then when Gasemu led them out of the town at risk of his own life was very heroic of him.

Chapter 12 is interesting. Right away it starts out with a shock. The men piled up that he saw is very visual sight. Like I have said in almost all of my past blogs, this is very easy to see the men piled up with their intestines spilling out, and their skulls smashed with blood pouring out like a fountain. Even now I can see it like I actually witnessed it. Through out the rest of this chapter it gives you information that helps build a foundation for the ext chapter.

Ch. 10 Response

Chapter ten is an emotional chapter. It seems that the chapter will be just an informational chapter like chapter 8 but by the end it was so emotional. I still find it weird that you never really never find out how Saidu dies. But the fact of him dieing isn't very sad but the way he presents it in the book makes it hit you hard like running into a brick wall. It just suddenly happens, and without warning. The way how you don't know how he dies leaves it almost up to you to decide for yourself. Even though there was no violence this is one of the more emotional chapters.

Ch. 8&9 Response

Chapter eight and nine are appealing. I like how he explains the time in the jungle thinking on his pass. I find it weird how when he and his classmates meet the old man that he just gave up on life and thinks he would be a waist of the boys memories if he told them his name. I find that just sad that the man just gave up and dosen't care anymore about his life. Later on when he is describing the damage to his feet was just grose how he said that the skin was bairld hanging on, and how the bloos was just incrusted on his foot. In all theses chapters are very good.

Ch. 6&7 Response

I find these chapters very different then the last few. These chapters are dealing with his life at the village where they treat him like an outcast. And how they expect him to do the same work as they do. Even as he struggles they still expect him to do the same amount of work as a adult. The entry to chapter 7 is interesting in how it just go right into it, "The attack happened unexpectedly one night.", it just pulls you in and you feel like you have to read more. In all these chapters are different, but they still make what they are saying interesting.

Ch. 3-5 of Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

These chapters are really good in how he immerses you in the chaos of the raid. It felt like I was was standing there seeing all of the people running by in terror screaming while guns rang though out the village. In the chapters he is sneaking in to Matta Jong it was so tense that I didn't want to put the book down. I was surprised though that the rebels just joked the whole time about death and the killing of people. I could almost feel the gut wrenching feeling just waiting to see if you arn't found and live or you ge discovered and die.

Ch. 1&2 of Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

I find this very vivid detail. This is some of the most gruesome writing I have ever read in a book. It seemed as if i was really there witnessing the event and it is very deep. While reading the part where he was walking through the village and seeing the dead pile in the streets like they fell from the sky was some of the most descriptive writhing I have ever read. In chapter 2 i didn't get it at first but towards the end it mad more sense that he i still having dreams today.