Exploration 5-Jill Reed

1. Esther in my opinion has impacted me the most so far. She has been the first person so far to actually somewhat get through to Ishmel. He had his gaurd up with everyone for awhile until she came along. He was not thrilled of her at first. He was rude to her. But he started to let his gaurd down once she gave him his gift and he saw that she might be able to be trusted becuase trust is a big thing with Ishmel right now. "I jumped up and hugged up but immediately held back my happiness"(Beah 154). This quote shows that Ishmel was happy for once and Esther was the cause.

2. In my opinion, anyone who has been in a war and has gone through things that Ishmel has gone through is going to have problems to overcome. I think he is making progress and opening up to nurses. I think it was a big step that he agreed to go to the other hospital to get looked at. He might still have nightmares but with help I think he will improve. I would not mind if he lived in my neighborhood. I have a solider who is my neighbor who seved in Iraq and he has PTSD but he is still a very nice and caring person.

3. I think Beah uses figuartive language very well in the novel. We are able to really get a sense of what Ishmel is feeling and how grusome things are. "I do not know what happend, but when I woke up the next day I felt as if I had nails hammered into my bones of my foot and my veins were being chiseled." (Beah 157). This was after Ishmel had the bullet taken from his foot. We get a sense of how horrible it must have been and the pain that he was put through. I could just imagine my veins being chiseled and how bad that would hurt.

4. "I was quiet for a bit, as I didnt knwo what to say and also didnt trust anyone at this point in my life. I had learned to survive and take care of myself. I had done just that for most of my short life, with no one to trust, and frankly, I liked being alone, since it made surviving easier." (Beah 153). I really think this passage stands out. It shows how the fighting and the war has impacted Ishmel. He can not trust anyone. He has been on his one and survived on his own. He has had to make his own decisions and learn to adapt to different problems. Now that someone is actually here to take care of him and help him like Esther, he is having a hard time being able to trust her. It impacted me because trust is a big thing to have and once you lose trust it is really hard to regain it and get it back. I think if I went through what Ishmel was going through it would take me forever to trust someone again.