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Daniel Janzen
Mr. Bigelow
English 10
January 8, 2016
The Life in Music
Over the many years of writing, authors have come to realize that
using inanimate objects in stories can really embellish the plot and bring new
meaning to it. One of the greatest inanimate objects that are used in
literature is music. Music has always been a sense of joy and life. It has
been there whether by the noise of a bird, jazz from a saxophone, or rap
from an iPod, they all serve the same purpose. They make it a place that the
listener can go to and feel happiness and freedom. The same goes for A
Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. In it, the main character Ishmael Beah is
surrounded by music in many different sorts, and in different parts of his life.
Music is one of the inanimate objects that tell what is going on in his life,
what will happen, or has happened. Music for Beah is the one thing that
shows the readers that through the absence of music that things will change,
that he still has his humanity or not, and it also shows how music is one of
the key things that bring him back into humanity.
In the beginning of the book, Beah was always surrounded by music,
and in return, life was fun and easy, but as his story goes on the music

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becomes less and less and so does his joy. Before all of the tragedies, he
and his friends would finish the night off with the sound of nature singing in
the air. Beah writes, Outside, the evening music of birds and crickets would
commence (7). At this point, things were almost as if nothing were wrong in
life because the music was still in his life. Normally the crickets and the
birds sang in the evening before the sun went down. But this time they
didnt, the darkness set in very fast (22). In Beahs life, up came a
dramatic change. First his life was happy and nothing could be better. The
birds and crickets were singing abroad. No one had anything to truly
complain about. Less than a moment later everything has changed. The
once perfect world of Beahs, became a complete and utter piece of havoc,
death, and destruction. The once beautiful singing of the birds and crickets
turned into the cries of children and gunshots. All of this was for told just by
the absence of music in his life.
As his story goes by, certain events occur that make Beahs humanity
start to become less and less, and the music of the time speaks even more.
During his journey, certain events happen that also raise bring back his
humanity. While him and his friends were on the run from rebels, they would
occasionally slow down for a minute and walk in silence. One of the last ones
is with music. Beah writes, We had been walking in silence through the
night until we stopped to listen to the singing of the morning birds (89).
This one last part where he chose to sit down and listen to the sound of
music in the air shows how his humanity is present yet it is fading. Later on

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Beah does get captured. At first the only thing that would help him get to
sleep is the singing of a little boy named Lansana. After a little while in the
army things have changed and now his humanity is gone. Beah writes,
Sometimes late in the night, the quiet wind brought to my ears the
humming of Lansana. It seemed as if the trees whispered the tunes of the
songs he had sung. I would listen for a bit and the fire a few rounds into the
night driving the humming [of Lansana] away (125). Like before, he chose to
listen to the birds and the humming of the forest, now Beah is choosing to
drive away the sounds of the birds and the humming. He chose to drive
away the one thing that is keeping him sane from the world. Now that the
music has been driven away by him, the music does not play and it will no
longer give him the peace that he so dearly needs.
Near the end of Beahs story, he is given over to UNICEFF so that he
can regain his humanity, and they do through the power of music. His
therapist/nurse Esther would go and listen to the stories of Beahs. After a
while, she brought him a Sony Walkman and old Reggae music. This is what
truly made it possible for him to return back into humanity: Why did you
get me this Walkman and cassette if we are not friendsShe checked my
tongue, used a flashlight to look into my eyes I didnt care because the
song had taken hold, and I listened closely to every word of the music (154).
After a while of these visits, Beah began to enjoy coming to them to listen to
the Walkman: Would you like me to say something about your dream?
Mostly I would say no and ask for the Walkman (161). After she gave him

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the Walkman, it was the one thing that truly made him happy again. His
humanity has started to come back into existence at the same time that the
music in his life returns. The music of the moment is what really tells his
story. The Walkman was the thing that he would look most forward to
during his visit because it made him feel happiness and joy. The once silent
and dark nights are no more. Music has returned to Beahs life and so has
his happiness and humanity.
Music is the one thing in Beahs life that truly makes him happy and
tells the readers what is going on. Music can also tell what is going on in
Beahs life in its absence. It has the ability to tell the readers when he has
lost his humanity and when he has it. Music is the thing that truly brought
Beah back into humanity and made him happy again.