I will be discussing two texts, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, specifically

Chapter 2, and his other narrative body of work, “The Gassed” a painting by John
Singer Sargent and his body of work of unconventional portraits.

I will relate this to the field of inquiry of culture, identity, and community. Specifically,
the global issue of the impact of trauma on the identity of the individual.

Firstly, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a biography of the journey Beah goes
through being a boy soldier and how it affected his identity and perception of reality.

On the other hand, “The Gassed” by John Singer Sargent is a painting depicting the
personality of war and those who were affected by it rather than treating war as
political propaganda.

While both texts have similar representations of trauma, they differ in the
consequences it has on the individuals.

Firstly, A Long Way Gone is a psychoanalysis of Beah's life as a boy soldier and its
impact on his identity.

In lines 1-11, he is seen carrying a body which turns out to be himself. For example,
in line 9 Beah narrates “One bullet has crushed the adam's apple and set the
contents back to to the throat” This visceral imagery symbolises the fact that all his
human qualities have been pushed back into himself so deep that it is buried forever.

In addition, later in line 26 where Beah says “We took their ammunition, sat on their
bodies and started eating the cooked food” employs situational irony by associating
food with such great violence. He is forced to live with people whom he may not see
eye to eye with and commit atrocities with them in the struggle for survival.

This brings us to the second point, which is that Beah utilises unreliable narration in
the text. The scenes constantly shift from an induced nightmare to New York and
then his childhood. There is a constant dissonance of reality between Beah’s past
and present. This is especially seen in lines 36 and 37 when he says “I live in three
worlds: my dreams, and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from
the past”.

When subjecting the text to psychoanalytical criticism, we see that Beah

psychoanalyses his failure to distinguish the difference between the past and present
as he has become numb to what reality is.
These authorial choices contribute to Beah’s commentary on the effect of traumatic
events on the vulnerable mind of a child causing them to forgo their identity and
damage their perception of reality itself.

Thus readers who have experienced similar trauma from war can deeply connect
with Beah’s message and reflect upon their shortcomings.

Zooming out, we see that the rest of A Long Way Gone is far from structurally linear
in language.

Beah creates a contrast between lighthearted and ominous tones to depict the
chaotic journey of identity struggle. For example, his love of rap music exclaimed in
Chapter 1 symbolises the humanity that's in him. It chaotically transitions back and
forth from the bleak tones that cloud his environment. It provides strength in the face
of adversity which is evident at the end of the book where he still maintains that
human aspect to himself despite the trauma he has faced.

This aspect is followed through to Beah’s other body of work such as his books
“Radiance of Tomorrow” and “Little Family” where he explores the recovery of
Identity from trauma and the rebuilding of culture from hardships.

Beah describes anecdotes of his own struggles in the form of stories of other
children who have experienced similar trauma. Beah describes the rebuilding of
identity as a slow and gradual process. This is especially true from the line in chapter
3 of A Long Way Gone which is repeated in Radiance of Tomorrow that states to “be
like the moon” by his community. It emphasises the strength and resilience needed
to overcome traumatic experiences and still know what it's like to be human and
maintain your identity.

Moving on to the second text “The Gassed” by John Singer Sargent, the painting is a
figurative dialogue on war as a personality that induces trauma in individuals that
deeply affects their identity.

As we can see in the painting, Sargent utilises bland and monotonous colours such
as yellow and brown in the gas itself, which essentially washes away the vibrant and
colourful nature of the individuals' identities.

In addition, the soldiers are seen moving through a sea of bodies, evidently
hyperbole. But upon close inspection, we can see that these ‘bodies’ are actually
living people. This illusion emphasises the fact that it is difficult to separate a dead
person from someone who is alive, but without identity. The painting criticises the
Nihilistic view of reality that is forced upon soldiers who have no choice but to endure
the trauma of war.

Additionally, the blindfolds are symbols of the masking of identity that causes them to
traverse blindly through the sea of bodies and ignore the chaos that ensues around
them. It is almost as if their human identities have succumbed to the toxic gas
around them, similar to the destroyed Adams Apple of Beah in A Long Way Gone.

However, the painting does depict a few human qualities, such as a group of people
playing football in the background, perhaps linked to the personalities of the soldiers
themselves. But the fact that they are painted so minuscule in contrast to the gas,
emphasises the suppression of what makes up their identity such as culture and
community due to war and the trauma induced from it.

These authorial choices connected with the contemporary audience of the Victorian
era who could see behind the war propaganda and understand Sargent’s true motive
for the painting.

Zooming out from this, Sargent’s body of work is composed mainly of portraits of
members of high societal status during the late 1800s.

His works were very unconventional and daring, aiming to break from the nihilistic
view of a traditional audience and explore themes of existentialism and personal
expression. His most controversial yet famous portraits titled “Dr Pozzi at Home” and
“Madam X” incorporated individuals of high social status and gave them personality
and emotion.

Through his loose brush techniques and abstract strokes, Sargent exemplified the
imperfections in those who grew up in a time when it was expected of people with
high status to maintain monotone personalities and express little emotion. For
example, Dr Pozzi at Home was a portrait of a wealthy gynaecologist. Sargent
brought out Pozzi’s sensual and quirky side through red tones and unconventional
poses as he was commonly known as the doctor of love.

Thus while Sargent's war paintings criticised the impact of war trauma, his portraits
criticised societal trauma in the same vain, breaking from the norms and pressures
of society. In addition, rather than painting war paintings for propaganda, he
personified war as a person who could touch, feel and personally traumatise you
similar to how Beah described the psychoanalytic nature of war trauma.
In conclusion, both texts and bodies of work effectively present the impact of trauma
on the identity of the individual.

The authorial choices contribute to conveying the importance of the global issue in
order to connect personally with audiences who relate to the author’s message.

While each text differs in the consequences the trauma has on the individuals, it is
evident that it is all in all damaging, visceral and deeply dsiorienting. Despite this, it is
clear that both authors still hint at hope for the individuals to find their identity again.