I do not believe that the atrocitys Ishmael committed were Ishmael's fault. Ishmael did not willingly take up the child soldeiring life. He was given the descison to either join the army or be killed by nearby rebels. What would you choose?? Also, the murders Ishmael commited and terribly actions he took, were because of the drugs Ishmael was on. Clearly, Ishmael cannot be held responsible for his actions during his soldiering days.
Another reason why Ishmael cannot be blamed for his actions was that Ishmael was brainwashed. First he was on multipe drugs that deluded his mind while sharpening his other attributes. During this time Ishmael was not a teenage boy, but a drugged, killing machine, who could not, did not, have any other choice but to do what his fellow soldiers did. Any other actions would have met certain death. Another reason was that Ishmael had no close family members still alive. He was ALONE in the world, a scary thought for a young teenage boy. The army embraced him, and he had to join the army for his own survival. The army became his family and with the army Ishmael escaped certain death. If you blame Ishamel reflect on Ishmael's choices and decide what you what have done?? How would YOU have SURVIVED without taking these actions .
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Good job Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI agree for the most part, Ishmael had little to no choice in the matters of the war. He was just doing what he had to do to stay alive, anyone would have.
Ishmael was drugged, manipulated, and changed personality-wise by his commanders until he could no longer differentiate between helping "win" the war and mindlessly murdering innocent villagers.
It says in the book a number of times that Ishmael feels angered when people tell him it isn't his fault. Does he ever mention why he feels this way? He might have and I may have missed it, but if he didn't, then I'm wondering it "it's not your fault" upsets him because he feels it is his fault.
Anyway, Ishmael really can't be held responsible for his actions during the war, he had no control over what happened.
Oh, and we definitely are the best block.
Excellent Kyle.
ReplyDeleteI do undertand the circumstances Ishmael and other child soldiers was under when they did those things, and I agree that they should not be punished because they are too young to uneerstand war and right from wrong.
However, they have killed and tortured many people, afterall, so they are responsible for those crimes, eventhough they should not be helf responsible. Poeple will not blame them for the killings, but the killings committed directly or indirectly by them will be blamed. They will not be blamed for joining and fighting in the war, but the war itself will be blamed. Does that make them blamed too? To a certain degree, I think yes.
Anyway, we can all agree that we are the best block!
Great Job, I definitely agree. Ishmael didn't really have a choice, it was death or war. Ishmael was drugged. He had no choice when it came to killing. It was kill or be killed. I don't think he had to kill them in such a harsh way. I think he did have freedom in that area and he shouldn't have done the things he did. I am happy for him, in that he goes back and realizes the things he did were terrible! This means he is not just a killing machine and he isnt heartless. In doing so he quickly became one of my favorite literary characters.
ReplyDelete............oh yeah..... by the way..... WE ARE THE BEST BLOCK!!!!
I completely agree, it is not Ishamel's fault he was a completely different person when he was in the war, it was not only that he was brainwashed but he just took on another life. In his alter life the things he did could be held to blame but now he should not be blamed for those things because he has moved on from that uncontrolable alter life he led before even if he doesn't believe it himself that he is moving on. Because of his disbelief of change in himself he is always very irritated when people say it is not his fault, I almost think that he wants it to be his fault so that he can hold on to his old life that he is moving slowly away from.
ReplyDeleteAnd we really are the BEST Block!
OMG GREAT JOB KYLE. I agree that Ishmael did is not to blame, and that it wasn't his fault that he did all those things. After a child his age goes through such a traumatizing experience, its no wonder they are so easily brainwashed. After he experiences death, losing his family and friends, and living on his own, he really didn't know what to believe anymore. In a way, you could say the path he chose was a smart one, because he easily could have dies on his own.
ReplyDeleteIshmael is definitely not to be blamed for his situation. He was given a choice; either kill or be killed. It was only through the brainwashing and drug polluting of the soldiers that forced him to want to kill. He lost his true intention of surviving the war not by his fault. He had no other place to go even if he did escape without harm. No family, no home and no friends. The last thing that Ishmael wanted was to be alone so you really can't blame him. Good job Kyle.
ReplyDeleteGood Job
ReplyDeleteIshmael was indeed heavily drugged during his time as a soldier. Most of the time he had no choice. It was kill or be killed for his time as a soldier. Though Ishmael was heavily drugged he has a very good ability of remembering every detail. A lot drugs can distort a memory. This questions the reader as if how much the story is true.
Ishmael did not have a choice in this war. This situation was extreme, it was life or death. How can you blame a boy younger, that was not even a teenager yet, to chose life over death. At the time he thought his family could be alive, at least his brother, so he had something to live for. He was not oing to throw that away to not be involved in a war that hurt him, his family, and so many others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Kyle. Ishmael did not have much of a choice in his past. The one thing I don't agree with is that he was doing all this to stay alive. As a child he would not have been that rational. He only did what he did because they embraced him like a family which by that point in the book he lacked. Like Kyle said he was alone without someone to guide him. That is where the army was able to exploit his vulnerability.
ReplyDelete