In chapter one of A Long Way Gone Ishmael is told by an old man to "be like the moon". When he asked his grandmother what this meant she replied, "that the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and be good to others." As Ishmael decides to tell his painful story, he is striving to be like the moon.
Before the first chapter there is a little dialogue between him and a friend in New York where the friend calls the horrific bloody trials that Ishmael was forced to go through as a child "cool". Ishmael could have snapped at his friend and told him that it was the worst experience he's ever been through and made his friend feel terrible. However Ishmael simply smiles and tells his friend he will tell him all about it later.
In chapter two Ishmael has a terrifying nightmare that almost seems real. He's walking through what was a battle ground over dead bodies, some are just parts, and he is carrying a body to the cemetery. When he gets to the cemetery and unwraps the body he realizes it is himself. Ishmael wakes up in a cold sweat with no desire to go back to sleep. This haunting past would be a difficult thing to share with thousands of strangers and he doesn't want to remember the horrific past but he understands the significance of it. his past will always be a part of who he is and he can never change it. I think because he realizes this and decides to tell his story that he is being like the moon because it is so terrifying and hard to tell. It would be one thing to keep the past hidden from everyone because then no one can learn from his past. His decision to tell his story because other people might find it interesting even though it hunts him at night is a great display of his true character and proves he is trying whole-heartily to be like the moon.
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