A Literary Analysis Of 'My Brother Sam Is Dead'

War can be a very stressful thing. Not only for the people fighting, but for those close to and around them. One way the authors of My Brother Sam is Dead argue and show that they disagree with the war is that it divides and separates families. Another way they show it is that the sides are divided by principles and reality. The last way they show that they disagree is that the war is a clash of generations. There are many perspectives of war, like how they should be fought, or if people think it’s the way to solve things, but many argue against and disagree with war for many reasons.

One of the ways the authors argue and disagree with the war is that it divides families. For example, it divided Sam and his dad, Life. “Go Sam. Go. Get out of my sight. I can’t bear to look at you anymore in that vile costume. Get out. And don’t come back until you come dressed as my son, not as a stranger,” which

others realities. A lot of the Patriots weren’t fighting the war because of the taxes, but because of the principle behind having to pay taxes to the king. “Oh God, Sam fight? Is it worth war to save a few pence in taxes?’ said Life to Sam. ‘It’s not the money, it’s the principle,” which shows that even Sam knows it’s about the principle, not taxes (Collier and Collier 21). Even Sam’s own death was because of his principle, because if he hadn’t joined the war he wouldn’t have been blamed for the cattle robbing, which could have saved his life. An example of realities was Mr. Meeker. He thought that in reality the war was ridiculous and the Patriots would lose and half would die. He was wrong, but he never lived to see it. Also, after losing her husband and her son, Mrs. Meeker would not serve any officers in the tavern again, which is a reality. War is always one side against another, but what those sides are may