Journal 5

Alex Hustak

English 1109 Mon/Wed 10:30

October 1, 2016

Beasts of No Nation

               Beasts of No Nation is a film that portrays the struggles of civil war in a country that can suck any person up into the action. This film does an immaculate job of showing the true, gruesome side to war. Aside from the gore and brutality, the movie still has a great plot behind it. The theme behind this movie is how war can take even the most innocent person, and turn them into a cold blooded killer. This film is something that should be viewed by anyone who is interested in the true details of a civil war.

               Agu, a child at the beginning of the film watches his father die in front of him, while running to the woods to escape his brother gets shot as well. These events would soon change Agu into the warrior he was for the war. Being able to see this mental change for a child helps us picture what kind of things Beah went through in A Long Way Gone. Knowing how he could kill so many people without a problem now having a picture to it makes him a scarier person to know he had done things similar to that.

               One of the most important plot events that took place was when Agu was forced to kill his first human. Against his will, Commandant forced him to bring a machete down upon the skull of an adult male. This was a big turning point for Agu since after he killed his first human, the next one would only be easier to do. This eventually took away any regard Agu had for emotions of his victims.

               This film educates on how much war can change people, and how it can take over a country so easily. It shows us that the peace we have in our country is something we take for granted compared to these countries forced to fight their own people. If anyone has read the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, this film would be highly recommended to them for the purpose of being able to actually see similar situations to what Beah had to go through.

Commandant is giving Agu no choice but to kill his first human.