Greed, a component of human nature, consistently leads to violent competition which often results in mass destruction. For instance, when the Spanish conquistadors intruded into the Americas, they ruined the natural state of the land through their ravenous conquest. As this historical war destroyed American nature, the destruction of nature through war continues to be evident. In his memoir A Long Way Gone, author Ishmael Beah employs the motif of the absence of nature to mirror the citizens’ loss of elation during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
    The Civil War devastates a village in Sierra Leone, which is depicted when Beah contrasts the presence and the absence of the sounds of nature. Before the war, “the evening music of birds and crickets” was encountered daily (Beah 7). Beah’s use of this delightful music creates a joyous atmosphere, reflecting the presence of bliss in his hometown. However, after the war broke out, the crickets and birds “did not [sing anymore], and darkness set in very fast” (22). This unusual silence creates an apprehensive mood, and it directly contrasts with the boisterous atmosphere before war, showing the way the evils of the war invade the village.
    The lack of sound also creates the image of “darkness,” which is further explored by Beah’s use of the moon, which conveys the loss of jubilation among his war-torn compatriots. During his vibrant childhood, the villagers were content and “appreciate[d] the moon in their own special way” and believed that “a lot of joyful things happen when the moon shines” (17). In the past, the moon symbolized the delight of the village during peaceful times. However, as war progresses into his village, Beah no longer can find the moon in the night sky because “[it] disappears and [takes] the stars away with it, making the sky weep” (189). Since the moon symbolizes the serenity and the happiness of Beah’s childhood, the vanishing of the moon conveys the joy disappearing in war.
    By illustrating different aspects of nature before and after the war, Beah conveys the loss of ecstasy in Sierra Leone. In the beginning, Ishmael Beah portrays the sound of nature and the moon to represent the bliss of his village before the war. As the war progresses, the presence of sound and the moon diminish and completely vanish, communicating the absence of joy in people. People often do not notice their environments, even though it has an immense effect on them.