Is it possible to change your attitude while learning resilience to overcome life's hardships? No matter how bad the situation was for Ishmael Beah in his memoir "A Long Way Gone," he was still able to cope with the circumstances by using defense mechanisms such as reaction formation to help him survive. Although he falls back on drug use, Beah's attitude changes throughout his journey. In the beginning of the memoir Beah is a happy young boy who is enjoying being a kid. As the memoir progresses Beah must learn to "change" his attitude and deal with the situations that are being thrown at him. Beah is resilient because he takes the traumatic events he has been through and figures out ways to get through these times. Beah "bounces back" to his original self as he is rehabilitated and a greater long-term effect is when he embarks to the United States.
Beah embraces his own obstacles and uses them to assist others, educating them about what it was like while also speaking out to protect other children in countries that are at war, so their innocence is not stolen from them, like it was stolen from Beah. Over the course of the memoir, Beah uses strategic tactics to help him become more resilient, change his attitude, and help him maneuver through the obstacles of war that affect children.
When Beah was just minutes from being reunited with his family he heard gunshots. He hurried to the town that most of the people from his home town Mattur Jong were staying; Beah was in disbelief because of what he had witnessed upon arrival. Beah
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grew angry at Gasemu because of the defense mechanism of displacement. According to Benjamin Lahey's book Psychology an Introduction Fifth Edition displacement is a...