During the time that Ishmael spends with the RUF, his lieutenant makes the following statement: "We are not like the rebels, those riffraffs who kill for no reason" (p. 123). Is this true? Why or why not? Are they different because they believe differently? Or are they the same even though they fight on the opposite side?
Further: What does the lieutenant's statement reveal/indicate about war?
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I believe that the statement that the lieutenant said is not true. In the text, there was violence during the time that Ishmael spends with the RUF while fighting the Rebels. I don't believe that both the rebels and the RUF are different because they believe differently. One group is killing people and taking over villages while the other is trying to stop them from doing that. The way they are the same, as I believe, is that the rebels and the RUF believe that the answer to stopping stuff, like attacks on villages, is by engaging in war. The statement that the lieutenant said reveals that the war is very serious. It also indicates that he is a powerful man and he doesn't like the Rebels
ReplyDeleteI do not believe the general was telling the truth during that statement. They army that Ishmael was in also killed people unnecessarily. Also whenever they found civilians they would force them to care all the provisions back to the camp and forced them to stay or risk the rebel filled bush. Although they claim the causes are different between the two they really are the same. Both are just violent, selfish leaders trying to gain more power in the area. This reveals one simple ever constant fact about history, that it is written by the victors. In a war whichever side wins is considered the just one. Had the founding fathers lost the war for independence they would have been seen and children would be taught that they were a bunch of terrorists. Only the strong can claim they are just because they are the ones who define what justice is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Brandon and Jason. What the lieutenant said is not true. Both sides of the war are killing with any humanity or consideration. Hell, thats why both sides have children at the age of 7 handling AK-47s not even fully understanding why they they have to do these awful things. Like Jason said, this is a battle for power. All these leaders want is more troops, land, and power than the other guy. Which is what they have in common, a thirst for power. What the lieutenant the said reveals that he obviously thinks that he is part of the good guys, and that he wants to destroy anybody against him and his beliefs.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the RUF is both similar and different to the Rebels. I believe they are similar in the sense that they are both killing, and adding more violence to the war. I also believe that they both despise each other. They differ in the sense that the Rebels are trying to fight for more power in the hands of the people, while the RUF is trying to subdue the Rebles. I believe that the Lieutenant is wrong because he says the Rebels are killing for no reason, while in reality th Rebels are killing for freedom and power. I think the Lieutenant thinks he is fighting for the right reason. I believe they are different because they are fighting for to defend two very different ideas, although they are the same in that they are both fighting for what they think is right. The Lieutenants statement about the war reveals that there is extreme hatred between the enemies.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the RUF is both similar and different to the Rebels. I believe they are similar in the sense that they are both killing, and adding more violence to the war. I also believe that they both despise each other. They differ in the sense that the Rebels are trying to fight for more power in the hands of the people, while the RUF is trying to subdue the Rebles. I believe that the Lieutenant is wrong because he says the Rebels are killing for no reason, while in reality th Rebels are killing for freedom and power. I think the Lieutenant thinks he is fighting for the right reason. I believe they are different because they are fighting for to defend two very different ideas, although they are the same in that they are both fighting for what they think is right. The Lieutenants statement about the war reveals that there is extreme hatred between the enemies. I like Richie's point about seven year old children receiving guns to fight with, because it shows how messed up the war is.
ReplyDeleteWell, I agree with some of the ideas showing above, but I think the lieutenant's words are kind of right.
ReplyDeleteThe war was incited by the rebels, who killed first and destroyed first. I don't think there is anyone who can ignore his family members' death, or there is anyone who can easily forget this. The seeds of hatred were sowed by rebels, and they finally would taste the consequences.
When all the tragedy happened, Ishmael and his friends were just kids, they lost all the happiness they should had, and they were lingering in blink of death for every moment. These were caused by the rebels.
Children were innocent in the war, I really hate the way the lieutenant made all the young boys soldiers. However, the war made the children become mature so early. These were all results of rebels' atrocities. Though I feel sorry for the rebels who had just joined their organization but were killed before they killed anyone, I don't think it is wrong thing for soldiers to kill them. No one participate the war was innocent. All the rebels ate and used things that came from others' death, if there wasn't anyone who stopped them, they would become more and more brutal. And sometimes, the only way to fight against violence is violence.
In conclusion, though both soldiers and rebels killed others, they were different. Rebels killed for killing, but soldiers killed for saving.
true true i agree. None of what the lieutenant said i believe isn't true but it worked beacause he is appealing to a group of teens. i also believe there isn't a differnce in their groups. they are just killing each other for no reason.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trevor, I believe that the statement has some truth, but also isn't. Most of the time rebels are thought of as the people who cause distruction and kill people. The army does the same thing though, a lot of times the army causes more harm then good, with civilian casualties and destruction of buildings. But they have a reason that they kill, they are defending against the "rebels" and that is there reason. The "rebels" have a reason also though, they are fighting for what they believe in and they believe that what they are doing is right, even though others think it is morally wrong and gruesome. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round and the army and rebels just have two very different points of view and beliefs. I think that they are the same in a lot of ways, but I also think they are different in a lot of ways also.
ReplyDeleteI think that the generals statement was false because in real life the rebels basically mean people who fight against the own country. The rebels already fight to destroy the country but in the way they destroy other people who turns into rebels. Then you have two different kinds of rebels fighting very different fights. But i still think that the two different kinds of rebels are the same.Because they basically are fighting against the same opponant, the government who started everything wrong in the country.
ReplyDeleteThere are many differences between RUF and the army. RUF(rebels) goes around the villages in Sierra Leone and just destroy innocent people and families for no reasons. Because of the rebels, the army was created. Army has a reason;they fight rebels who destroyed their normal and peaceful life. When the army was outnumbered they began to recruit children and group of child soldier was formed. If RUF didnt kill innocents for no reasons, there wouldnt be any problems with child soldier.
ReplyDeleteEventhough there are many differences, there is one similarity that they share. Both sides are blinded by their ego, killing the prisoners violently without mercy.
the children fighting on both sides dont know the differences and the similarrities of the ideas of the other side. they have been brought up with ideas and war propaganda that causes them to not even try to understand the other side. the older people abuse this and make the kids have the same ideas as them. both the army an the rebels kill for no reason. in the book i cant really tell what side ishmael is fighting for. i think its terrible that kids on both sides are brought up to think that the other side is just killing innocents so they will fight even harder. this gets even worse when ishmaels group meets up with rebel kids and they try to kill eachother.
ReplyDeleteBoth groups are doing the same thing. Maybe first you could think they have different intentions, but after a while you just realize how both groups ARE the same. Both are telling their people how their intentions would be different and the others are the "bad guys". We just learned one side of the story; how lieutenant Jabati told his people how the rebells treat innocent people and what they've done to their families; he used specific examples to make the boys feel enraged and vengefull.
ReplyDeleteLater in the camp another former rebell defends his side by telling how the military came into their villages and killed people.
So all in all I think both are the same. They're fighting for the same intentions even if they say they're not. After all these years, I think no one can tell who started attacing and who started violently defending.
I feel that the lieutenant is wrong. Like Jason said," this is a battle for power." It's just about who has more land, and who has the most guns. And I feel that this war is just going to be on going forever because these tribal people are recruiting little kids to fight. And when you teach a little kid to carry a AK-47 and kill people, when he grows older thats all he or she is going to know how to do. So in my opinion nobody is the good guy in this war. Because there both fighting for the other persons land. Which in my opinion is very dumb if there is no value in the land that there trying to get.
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