Favourite scene

My favourite scene so far in the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is the scene where Ishmael is pushed onto the battlefield for the first time ever and he doesn't know what to do. He then kills a man rushing him and his vision goes blurry and all he sees is his dying friends.(Beah 117-119) This is a very powerful scene because the mood is so tense we'll he waits to ambush the rebels and then when he does the pay off is sadness because all of his friends that we came to love in the book where dieing at his feet and Ishmael didn't know what he should do. The mood was also scared because Ishmael did not know what to do in this situation because he hadn't experienced it before so it makes you more anxious but at the same time nervous to see how he might handle the situation he is unwillingly put in. This scene is my favourite because it makes you so nervous to see what happens next because you are in the same state of mind as Ishmael "what is going on?" "what do i do?" and it makes you feel like you are right there on the battlefield with Ishmael and the army. I thought that scene was also the most important scene in the book because later on you begin to see how he started by fainting if he killed a man and then he is able to kill with absolutely no thought what so ever it makes you feel sorry for him because he didn't ask for it and he didn't want it but he was forced to do it and it messed up his way of thinking forever.

The Authors style of writing

This Authors writing, when 3rd person is very complex and detailed. The authors sentences are very lengthy and detailed and often describe emotions meaning the author is also omniscient. When the story is told from a 1st person perspective however it is very simple and casual because Ishmael is very care free usually when he talks with his friends. The novel is written in a problem and solution format letting in allot of high action scenes. Ishmael is often captured or giving a tough situation and he has to solve it. An example would be when he finds himself lone in the middle of the forest at the brink of starvation and he finds this mysterious fruit he has never seen before.(Beah 51) He has to figure out if he'd rather starve or risk getting poisoned. The solution is he eats the fruit and it turns out to be safe to eat. The author made the choice to have such a complex style of writing to make the book more intense by using descriptive imagery. If the author  said "he saw someone die so he was sad" it wouldn't be as intense as if he said "As Ishmael watched the Innocent man die he felt a piece of his heart separate from the rest of his body as if he himself felt the same pain". the authors choice to writ the story in this style made me actually feel as if i was a part of the struggle Ishmael was going through which made this book allot more interesting for me because I couldn't wait to see what would happen to Ishmael  next.