War is a annihilating event which tears states apart. and causes decease and hurting in the Black Marias of the dwellers. Whether it is the states strong males being sent off into the conflict zones. or the immature kids. war scars people. Soldiers are dehumanized. and lose all ethical motives and sense of right and incorrect. In the book Long Way Gone. Ishmael and his friends are dehumanized through the war because of the traumatic events they endure. and their clip spent in solitude off from civilisation ; fortunately. they were able to recover humanity through the love and hope provided from others.

Throughout the novel. Ishmael and his friends begin to those their humanity and go wholly different persons because of their exposure to the war. The kids easy begin to do unethical determinations. and lose all ethical motives and sense of natural right ; they were transformed into pitiless killing machines. “Our artlessness had been replaced by fright and we had become monsters” ( Beah 55 ) . During their clip as kid soldiers. alternatively of being educated on how to turn up as a normal. civilised striplings. Ishmael and his friends were taught how to kill and steal. They were brainwashed into going trained bravos. desiring nil more than to kill the enemy. the people who had destroyed their lives and murdered their households. The male childs were told the same would go on to them. if they did non take on the Rebels. Army commanding officers instilled fright into kids of the war. they were given a pick. battle to remain alive at whatever agencies necessary. or die. I didn’t experience a thing for him. didn’t think that much about what I was making. I merely waited for the corporal’s order. The captive was merely another Rebel who was responsible for the decease of my household. as I had come to truly believe. The bodily gave the signal with a handgun shooting and I grabbed the man’s caput and slice his pharynx in one fluid gesture. His Adam’s apple made manner for the crisp knife. and I turned the bayonet on its zigzag border as I brought it out…We celebrated that yearss achievement…” ( Beah 124 ) .

Before the war. Ishmael was an guiltless. caring small male child. filled with love and compassion for others. As seen on page 124. the nice small male child that one time was no longer exists. All of Ishmael’s positive. joyful ideas had been overtaken by ideas of killing and slaying. which are now enjoyable activities for him. Ishmael and his friend’s lost their childhoods to war. they were forced to go barbarous work forces. soldiers. contending to populate another twenty-four hours.

The ( dissociation from world ) dehumanisation of Ishmael and his friends began at the really start of the war. when people began to lose their positive morels. trust. and liveliness towards one another. For immature grownups. childhood is suppose to be a clip filled with felicity and good times. because of the war. all of Ishmael’s ideas and memories of a joyful childhood had been replaced and or blocked with ideas of unhappiness and incredulity. While in concealing from the Rebels. Ishmael was unable to believe about the possibility of his families’ endurance. “I decided to merely disregard every idea that came to my caput. because it brought excessively much sadness” ( Beah 52 ) . All ideas and remembrances of his yesteryear would outright rekindle his memories from the war. conveying to mind inquiries about the verve of his small town. He would retrieve images of dead organic structures and blood covered Fieldss. supplying him with terrible megrims. and darks filled with cryings. Before the war. people in Sierra Leone were really friendly and welcoming to travellers. Peoples were overjoyed when they were provided with the opportunity to run into new people. nevertheless that all changed. “…the war had destroyed the enjoyment of the very experience of run intoing new people” ( Beah 48 ) . All trust was lost between citizens. Ishmael could non be seen as anything but a soldier. he became really lonely. The war took away the felicity and overall household like ambiance of Ishmael along with his state of Sierra Leone.

Although war took off most of Ishmael and his friends’ childhoods. turning them into barbarian liquidators with no respect for anything but their ain endurance. they were provided with a rare opportunity to recover their humanity. Once out of the war. the immature kids were transported to a rehabilitation centre run by UNICEF. There. they were surrounded with complete aliens who for some ground unapparent to them. cared deeply for the kids. showing them with an eternal supply of love and apprehension of their state of affairs. They were invariably reminded of their artlessness. being told “This isn’t your mistake. you know. It truly isn’t. You’ll get through this” ( Beah 151 ) . Even through all the adversities Ishmael and his friends caused at the centre. they were non blamed for any of their actions. and each clip were cared for with more compassion than the last.

The workers at the installation understood their losingss and tried to make full in for them. They tried to be the children’s new household. “Think of me as your household. your sister” ( Beah 167 ) as said by a nurse to Ishmael. Ishmael was provided with a support system to assist him acquire through his difficult times. and be reshaped into civilised worlds. With the aid of the employees and voluntaries. they were able to be transformed into new people. They were able to believe that they could be ordinary male childs once more. “We can be rehabilitated” ( Beah 169 ) said Ishmael in many interviews with rehabilitation functionaries. Ishmael and his friends were lucky. They were put into an environment where people bestowed a sense of hope onto them. doing them believe. and finally win in the belief that they could be normal childs one time more. finishing their rehabilitation back to humanity.