Would you be grateful for someone coming and taking you out of war you would you feel the need to stay and fighting for your country?

I would only be grateful the someone was taking me away from war if I didn't have any loved ones to protect and fight for.

Comments On War- A Long Way Gone

In my opinion war is just a way for people on earth to get out their rage on others. Its so dumb that we have to try to take othre peoples things, almost like five year olds. Growing up we are told to repect each other for their own cultures so why can't countries do the same? Why do we have to go tyhrough life trying to prove that we are all right? I say that we should let people decide what religion they want to believe and what culture they want to follow. There should be no more fighting and people, even adults, should respect what other cultures believe.

I understand that if a country comes onto your land and harms or attacks your culture then fighting will follow, but if that country who attacked would have just respected the other country then the fighting would not have begun.

The only question is how we get the world to see each other for what they are?

A Long Way Gone/ Never Let Me Go

1. In both novels young children are forced to grow up on their owns with little help from people who pop into ther lives for only a short period of time.

2. The main characters in both novels go through hard times that the average child would not have to go through.

3. The children in both novels are grateful for the little things like food and old song tapes.

4. The world is afraid on what these children are (Ishmael going through war & the Hailsham children being clones)

Living In War- A Long Way Gone

The entire time that I was reading this book I kept thinking about what it would be like to live in war. All the scenes that Ishmael writes about are very graphic and tragic. I just feel that if I had to see those moments, that Ishmael lived through, I wouldn't be able to live on. Those moments of seeing death would scar my life forever. Even though Ishmael saw many people die he continued on to try to find safety.

At a young age of 15 Ishmael had to step up to the plate in order to survive and find a safe place away from the war. For most of the novel Ishmael walk for days with hardly any food and water. Most of us today don't even know what it's like to miss a meal so how can we even relate to such a thing. I don't feel that we can really relate to what Ishmael goes through because kids today pretty much get whatever they want. I think that we all need to stop taking things for granted and we should be thankful for what we already have.

Connections- Never Let Me Go

Please comment with your own connections.
1. The way that the children go searching for their possibles, or the person used to create them, is similar to the way that an adopted child would go looking for his or her real parents.

2. The way that the children are treated by the "normal" people is similar to the way that the Jews were treated by the Nazi's. Sometimes people are just afraid of what other people can do, giving them the need to control them.

3. The way Tommy and Kathy begin to question the way that Hailsham forces them to live is similar to the way that the main character of "Anthem" began to question the way that himself and his society were being forced to live.

If you were being forced to save a strangers life, knowing that you were missing out on life, would you still want to do it?

Of course everyone would say yes to this question, however, after thinking about it for days I did find an answer. I do not believe that it is possible for one to know their true character until they are faced with a situation such as this. I believe that when faced with this kind of challenge I would do what my heart felt was right. I know that when I have the chance to save someone else instead of myself I would make the right choice, even if I don't know what that choice is today.

Growing up- Never Let Me Go

While at Hailsham the children must learn how to live by watching tv and hearing stories from their fellow pupils and their guardians. It makes you wonder what would happen if the children learned about violence and drugs. I don't think it would make a diiference since the children would have been only exposed to these things on tv and not from the pressure of the outside world. Growing up the children are told by the guradians about rules yet I am beginning to wonder if there were even rules at all or if the children just believe everything the guardians tell them. Also growing up the children are told what they will have to do once fully grown, however, the guradians do everything they can to prevent the children from talking their future. I think the children should understand and see what the future will be like so that they can go and live life to the fullest before it becomes true. I still have to wonder ,however, if by seeing what they had as a future if the children would try to run and hide.

Creativity- Never Let Me Go

In Hailsham the students are incouraged to do different forms of art pieces, such as drawings or poems, to prove to the outside world that even though they are cloned from other people they have souls of their home. I believe it is improtant for the children to prove that they have their own souls. These children are kept from so many of the great things the world has to offer so it is important that the children create their own world through art. However, what do you do if someone is not creative? In the novel Tommy presents as the character who has difficulty being creaitve, however, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have a soul. So how do you prove to the other people around you that you do have a soul? Personality?

What are your thoughts on Hailsham- Never Let Me Go

Hailsham is the school/home that the children are kept at while they grow up to the age of 13. At the school/home the children are kept from society only seeking it through pictures and lectures the guardians share with them. The children, or students as they are referred to, are forced together through art, music, and sports. Years go by until their last year when they are forced to leave and go out into the world not knowing what the people outside will think of them and how they will be treated.

I believe that it is wrong to keep children away from the outside world and then force them to go into unknown territory. Growing up away from everyone the children don't see the effects they are having on the world and how they are looked upon. In the novel Kazuo Ishiguro tells how the people beyond the gates of Hailsham see the children as sort of aliens and are afraid of them. It is wrong to allow the children to believe they are normal when the world outside thinks differently. I also think that even if the children were created for a reason, to be organ donors, they should be able to live life to the fullest before they are called back donate. Overall it is wrong to send innocent children out into a world, where they aren't accepted, unprepared for the difficulties they will have to face everyday.