THE TRAVEL TO MATTRU JONG
Sierra Leone January 1993.
Who was involved?: Ishmael, Junior, Ishmael’s grandmother, Gibrilla, Kaloko, and Khalilou.
When did the event happen?: The event happened when Ishmael was twelve years old, during a time period in which people from other land were arriving in Sierra Leone due to a conflict in another country. January 1993.
Where did the event happen: The event started in Mogwebmo which was Ishmael’s hometown, then the journey took them to Kabati after they finally reached Mattru Jong.
What happened?: Ishmael and Junior traveled to Mattru Jong in order to assist to a talent show, their journey took them through Kabati and when they reached their destination they were not able to go to the talent show.
Why did it happen?: The boys decided to assist to the talent show because they enjoyed rap music and dancing, it was a good opportunity for them to do it.
FIRST IMPORTANT CHAPTER
We ranked this event as the most important one because we consider it to be the start of the novel, the novel entirely depends on Ishmael’s decision of going to Mattru Jong because without this decision he would have probably died during the rebel attack to Mogwembo. The event had a great impact towards the novel because it sets the beginning of how Ishmael is going to experience war away from his family and how is he going to have survival opportunities due to this decision of going to Mattru Jong without his parents knowledge. Without this event, the novel would be completely different. The event directly affects Ishmael and Junior because it sets how they are going to live war away from their family in a constant state of fear and ignorance.