Tyler Beers

English 1109 MW

September 29, 2016

Journal 5

            In the movie Beasts of No Nation, the storyline keeps your interest and is recommended to those that can appreciate a gruesome movie.   Agu lives with his family which includes his mother, father, baby sister and his brother.  One day the small village is attacked, the vans and taxis are full as they leave the village.  Agu, his father and brother are left at the village, as their mother and baby sister flee for the city with the others.  The village is attacked by rebels and Agu’s father and brother are killed, Agu runs to the forest to hide. Where he is discovered in the woods by some boy soldiers in the forest and becomes a part of their army.

The movie is very descriptive as it shares the loss of innocence in a boy soldier’s life. The new adult in Agu’s life is a dictator and warlord.  He is scruffy, dirty, mean, and ruthless, like no other adult Agu had ever met. I would recommend the movie, to those who could tolerate the violence and the bloodshed.  The story is captured in the same way through the book and the movie.  There is a sense of reality and the movie shows how quickly our lives can change. The suffering and expectations of the boys shows a completely different way of life than we are accustomed to in the United States. The way Agu is thrown into a completely different way of life and survives is an accomplishment most could not even imagine. He witnesses and is expected to do such horrific acts as he understands everything is about survival. He not only witnesses the horror but is expected to take part, to prove himself. As these acts tear him apart inside, he remained brave and quiet to survive. His friendship with Strika is one of the only positive things he has within the group.