How did Violence change throughout the novel? What did Ishmael learn about it?

I think the violence changed throughout the novel. Much of the novel had Ishmael and other children like him running from it. Displaces from their homes and offer separated from their parents (by violence) they wandered the countryside. Ishmael and his friends soon become an active part of the violence when they join the government forces. They inflict the same violence and pain that was inflicted on them.