A Long Way Gone vs Blood Diamond Essay

A Long Way bypast Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and the recent 2006 film alliance baseball diamond twain depict how it was living in Sierra Leone, Africa during the Civil War in the 90s. turn A Long Way Gone focuses on chela soldiers and what they had to live and go through for many years, farm animal Diamond focuses mainly on how the country is torn apart by the sputter between organization soldiers and rebel forces. The film portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels amputation of peoples hands to stop them from voting in upcoming elections.Both the pic and the book try to tackle major issues by asking the questions how did the rebels and the govern manpowert agnise support, what is the toll and impact of route on manpower, women, children and society. The question communicate by Blood Diamond and A Long Way Gone is that of how the rebels and the administration gained the support of the people. This brings up the major issue of child soldiers in Af rica, as it is an important topic in twain the book and the movie. Blood Diamond and A Long Way Gone twain research this issue, but Blood Diamond shows boys soldiers on the side of the RUF while A Long Way Gone shows them on the side of the national host.Blood Diamond shows how the RUF recruited soldiers, especially modern boys. The RUF gained support by force, attacking villages and enslaving the men and boys they captured. The film begins with the capture of Solomon Vandy, a Mende fisherman, by the Revolutionary United wait (RUF) rebels. Separated from his family, Solomon is enslaved to work in the diamond fields under the dictation of Captain Poi watchword. The RUF use the diamonds to fund their war effort, often trading them at present for arms. Solomons son Dia Vandy is later captured by the RUF and forced to dispute for them.They brainwash him by blindfolding him and making him kill people he does not know. They to a fault tell him that he will be a hero of the rege neration and he will enamor respect by killing people. His air force officer tells him that he can get whatever he wants, guns, cds, forage, and he gives him drugs to help control him and make him think he will be strong, invisible to his enemies. Bullets will bounce off him, and to make him fearless in battle. It is with these techniques that the RUF gained support, by forcing people to become their soldiers and workers and killing any that opposed them.While Blood Diamond showed how the RUF gained support, A Long Way Gone showed how the governments army gained support to fight the RUF. They gained followers by fetching in men and boys dis impersonated by the war and looking for a place to live and for safety. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tells how his village was also attacked by the RUF and burnt to the ground, but he and some(prenominal) of his friends were not there at the time and were able to escape. He made his way to the village of Yele that was said to be occupied by the army and a safe haven from the RUF.He and his friends lived safely for a time, but the army suffered many loses from the rebels. The army explained that in the forest there argon men waiting to destroy all of our lives. Some of you ar here because they killed your parents, others because this is a safe place to be. Well it is not that safe anymore. They said that they needed strong men and boys to keep the village safe, and if they did not want to fight, they would get no food and not be allowed to stay in the village. E rattlingone knew leaving the village meant death at the hands of the rebels, so there was very little choice for Beah and his friends and they joined the army.The army inspired and motivated their schoolboyish soldiers by reminding them that it was their time to revenge the deaths of their families and to make sure more children did not lose their families, and that that they were performing the highest service they could perform for their country. They also provided the boy soldiers with drugs comparable cocaine, brown brown (which was a mixture of cocaine and gun powder), and marihuana to control them and make them fearless in battle. Also, over time, the army did not have enough soldiers, so they began to attack villages for supplies to force men and boys to fight for their country.Blood Diamond and A Long Way Gone both effectively showed how the rebels and the government gained support, and spread awareness of the issue of children soldiers in Africa. They multi-colored a detailed picture of the horrible events that young men had to incur and participate in, and the struggles they faced during and after the genteel war. The next question that both Blood Diamond and A Long Way Gone addresses is the price and impact of war on men, women, children, and society. I feel that both the movie and the book show similar aspects on how people and society are affected because of the war.Many young boys lost all of their family in the loony bin of the shootings and had to fend for themselves for the remaining years of the war. Becoming child soldiers on both the government side and the rebels side made many of the boys very disturbed. A Long Way Gone describes horrific images abound such(prenominal) as bullets sticking out of the back of a baby or 12 year old boys marching to the front, dragging their guns by the muzzle as theyre too small to carry them. What is worse is the sense that such horror becomes normalised by its commonality.During his time in the government army, Beah says he killed too many people to count. Which shows how disturbing it would be for a young child having to do such things. In Blood Diamond, Dia Vandy is captured by the rebels to fight for them. He is taught to fight aimlessly, shooting everything in his path. The rebels brainwashed him. When his father Solomon comes to his rescue, Dia at primary acts like he doesnt know who he is, he tells him to go away, he doesnt want to be near him. Finally Solomon convinces his son to leave the rebels and run away with him.As for how the war impacted women and young girls, they were either shot and killed as they tried to get away or they were brought to a safe place working in the kitchen cooking food for the men. Blood Diamond and A Long Way Gone are both effective tools to tell the world about Sierra Leone and the issues in Africa. Both were able to educate the public about the start of the civil war through the exploitation of diamonds and the corruption of the government, as well as show everyone the awfulness of children soldiers.This book and movie, as well as several others and the work of dedicated people, have been able to tell the stories of Africa, spread awareness, and gain support to make a difference. Even though Blood diamond explains that for now Sierra Leone is at peace, there is dummy up work to do. It urges consumers to affirm that the diamonds they purchase are conflict free and reminds everyone tha t there are still 200,000 children soldiers in Africa. Overall, both are excellent at conveying their gist and hopefully have helped make a difference in Africa.