Week 5 Post B

Blood Diamond! I know I'm supposed to be talking about my book, A long Way Gone, but every time I sit down to read it, I can't help but think about the movie Blood Diamond. Both plots and settings match so closely, I thought that the movie was based off of the book but in reality, the movie was made long before Beah wrote his memoir.

There was a particular quote in the novel that matched up almost exactly to the movie. "Because of this raid, Alhaji acquired the name "little Rambo," and he did all he could to live up to that name. My nickname was "Green Snake," because I would situate myself in the most advantageous and sneaky positions."(p.144) In Blood Diamond, the boy soldiers are given names like "Baby killer" and "Blood Reaper" partially to install confidence in the soldiers, but also to strip them of their past lives and identities. In both the movie and the book, it would have been detrimental to the armies to have boy soldiers thinking about their past and who they were. Nicknames ensured that boys would remain loyal to their cause and it provided a sense of family within the army.

Another similarity between the two was the focus on the "boy soldiers." Beah has an obsession writing about his use of drugs. He even goes as far as mentioning them every chapter because they played such a big part in his life. Just like in the memoir, the movie shows scenes were adults give the boy soldiers drugs to make them fearless in battle and feel less pain when they are shot. Without these drugs, the boys would panic and become worthless fighters. It seems that both armies were fueled by drugs; specifically the boy soldiers. Overall, the similarities are quite shocking and I recommend the book and the movie to anybody who can stomach the violence.