My Brother Sam Is Dead Analysis

Futility of War

4,435 Americans were killed in the Revolutionary War. All of the dead Americans were killed due to the pointless war. The killing and slaughtering by the hundreds of the innocent people would be terrible to watch. However,war comes with injustice; some die, some do not. It all comes down to mere luck. The most difficult thing is watching families torn apart due to the war. Arguments, fighting, and running away all caused by this unnecessary feud between countries. In My Brother Sam is Dead, the authors, Collier and Collier, state the futility of war.

The events that take place in war are gruesome and full of brutality. Tim, a young boy, witnessed the killing of a slave Ned while vomiting all over himself. “Ned’s head jumped off his body and popped into the air(Collier and Collier 145).” Ned was beheaded in the British raid in Tim’s hometown. In another instance, Mr, Meeker, Tim’s father, tells his son ,Sam, about the brutality of war.. “Have you ever seen a

dear friend lying in the grass with the top of his skull off and his brains sliding out like wet oats?”Mr. Meeker warns Sam about the war with past experience. After Sam enlisted in the war for three years, he was executed. Tim describes his death as, “He lay there thrashing about, his knees jerking up and down.” The Patriots shot Sam from a close distance, so his body caught on fire. They shot him again, killing him for a crime he didn’t commit. War is brutal, merciless, and does not always go one’s way.
The authors show the unjust and unfair treatment to the people involved in the war. Sam was arrested for stealing his own cattle. Tim tries to convince Colonel Parsons, “He didn’t do it, he was chasing the ones who did.” Tim knows Sam would not steal his own cattle. However, war is not fair; Sam’s family received the news that he would be executed. As Tim was talking to Colonel Read about Sam’s execution, Colonel Read says,”War is never fair. Who chooses which men get killed and which men don’t?” Some people die in the war, but some people stay alive. For example, the British capture Mr. Rogers, Captain Betts, and ten-year-old Jerry Sanford. The British released Mr Rogers and Captain Betts, and put Jerry Sanford on a prison ship. “You can understand why they took Mr. Rogers or Captain Betts, but why imprison a ten year old boy?” Betsy Read says. Within three weeks of being imprisoned, Jerry died from disease. War causes unjust happenings to innocent people.
War causes families to break bonds with each other.

In My Brother Sam is Dead, the Meeker family is being torn apart. Sam, the son of his loyalist father, Mr. Meeker, decides to join the war to fight for the Patriots. Mr. Meeker and Sam are arguing over him enlisting. Mr. Meeker yells, “Go, Sam. Go. Get out of my sight. I can’t bear to look at you anymore in that vile costume.” This causes Sam to run away. Later that evening, Tim sees his father crying on the table in the taproom. “I’d never seen him cry before in my whole life; and I knew bad times were coming.” Tim knows that Sam joining the war has caused Mr. Meeker to break down in tears, and it foretells bad things to come. After Sam joins the army, he tells Tim he is going to steal Father’s gun. Tim does not agree,” I knew that was wrong and I shook my head. It doesn’t belong to the family; it belongs to father. Tim is torn whether on whether to tell his Father, or keep a secret for Sam. Families are being torn apart due to the

war.
There is always another answer besides war. War has done more negative than positive; it is pointless. Families are being changed forever, as a result of the war. Brutal wars have caused thousands of bodies to lay dead on the battlefields, or even hanging for a crime they did not even commit. War should never be an option, even for the right of independence.