Abemelek Markos

Blood Diamond
The movie, Blood Diamond directed by Edward Zwick, takes place in Sierra
Leone in 1999. The Revolutionary United Front have been causing terror, attacking
villages, and enslaving people. Solomon and his family were attacked by the RUF
and Solomon was forced to be separated from his family. He ends up being enslaved
and work on the rebels controlled diamond fields. The rebels use trade the
diamonds for weapons to help continue with the war. While Solomon was forced to
work, he finds a very rare pink diamond that was the size of a birds egg. One of the
rebel notices that Solomon was hiding the diamond but they both end up in prison
when the government troops attack the mine.
Archer, a diamond smuggler, overhears about the pink diamond. Archer had
to use his diamonds to bribe government troops when they catch him with it.
Therefore, he is desperate to pay off his debt to Colonel Coetzee. Archer bails
Solomon offers to help find his family. Solomons son has been kidnapped by the
RUF and was forced to be a child soldier and Poison is his mentor.
Archer meets a woman named Maddy which helps Archer change his moral
position. Solomon finds his wife in a refugee camp in Guinea and finds out that his
son has been kidnapped by the RUF. Solomon finally finds his son and rescues him
from the rebels and but Archer was fatally shot. He urges Solomon to find Maddy
and tell her about the blood diamonds. Finally Solomon and Maddy expose Van De
Kaap Diamond Companys role in the blood diamond role.
This movie goes hand in hand with the store of Ishmael Beah. He can directly
correlate with Solomons son being brainwashed and becoming a child solder just

like Ishmael. They both were forced to do horrific things by RUF. The movie helps
better understand the extent of the pain and suffering this child had to go through
visually. In the end, both of them get rescued and now have a better future.