The Collier brothers novel, My Brother Sam Is Dead, takes place during the American Revolution, in Redding Ridge, Connecticut. Throughout the book, the theme that war impacts families, communities, individuals, and countries is revealed. Tim, the narrator and protagonist of this book, is the son of Eliphalet (Life), and Susannah Meeker. Sam, Tim’s brother, returns home, and he announces that he will be joining the Patriot Militia. Sam’s beliefs contrast with his father's who is a Loyalist, and it is made clear when Life expresses that treason towards the king will not be spoken of in his home, while slamming his hand on the table. (Pg.6) Tensions start to grow and the division of their family erupts.
While war keeps on dividing the Meekers, it also starts to divide individuals such as Tim, making his inner self erode little bits at a time. He gets torn up inside when he is asked whose side he will take. (Pg.37) He isn't just being asked who he will support in the war, but who he will stick with, his brother who he looks up to, or his father who is the head of the household, and is the person who takes care of him. Throughout the book he still doesn't make this hard decision because after all, he loves both of these people with all his heart and doesn't want to hurt either one
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of them. Not only does he not want to betray his father or his brother, but he sees both the Patriots and Loyalists do things he doesn't approve of, so he wavers between sides. For example, he sees the Loyalists kill his friend Ned. And while on his journey to Verplanks point with his father they encounter a group of Patriot cowboys who assault father, and tell Tim to go sit in the corner. However, later on the Loyalists come to help and rescue both of them. Unfortunately, this was right when he started to feel like a man while hitting oxen and finally feeling proud. The tragedy of this day is that it went from being a fun outing and Tim starting to feel good about himself, to all of a sudden being the middle of a huge conflict. This put two groups of people fighting for the same country at odds; showing war’s divisive impact on countries. It's clear that war can divide countries but on a much smaller level it can divide communities.
For example, in chapter six Tim decides to disobey his father and deliver a message for Mr.Heron. While on his way to the receivers home, he runs into Betsey Read, Sam’s girlfriend who comes from a Patriot family in Tim’s community. Betsey believes the letter is an indication to kill Sam because Mr. Heron who wrote the letter is a Loyalist. Because of this she decides to tackle Tim to the ground until she gets the letter and when she does she rips it up. Tims attempt to follow in his brother's footsteps and use his bravery as an example was ruined by Betsey; showing the division of their
community. It is important for Tim to feel heroic like Sam, and he tries to be at any chance he gets. On page 90 trough 91, he even tries to get his dad to let him take some responsibility like Sam did. Sam represents everything Tim wants to be as he grows up. Tim tries to prove himself to Sam in everything he does. He is always noted for courageous acts, and Tim wants to be as bold as him. Unfortunately, Sam gets accused of stealing cattle, and gets killed as punishment. After all this war has done to the Meekers Tim was unable to be loyal to any side and he was forced to remove himself from all the pain and move away to Pennsylvania.
In the book “Hear the Wind Blow” by Mary Downing Hahn takes place in Virginia during the Civil War. Haswell’s problem is that his home was burnt down by Yankee soldiers and his mother died of a fever leaving him and his little sister Rachel orphans and nothing but a horse, old blankets and a root cellar with minimal food. Haswell decides to travel with his sister to the grandmother's farm but when they find the house in shambles and no one there they head for Winchester to find their uncle. When they get there they find the uncle is housing a Yankee soldier. Haswell's main conflict is that he needs to find his older brother Avery, who is fighting in Petersburg. Haswell travels down to southern Virginia in search of his brother. His conflict
Chapter 10-14 in My Brother Sam is Dead describes the war’s savage nature and the hardships the Meeker family endures due to the wicked acts of man-kind. In chapter 10, Tim describes the woes of life without Father. Not long after British troops come to Redding. Consequently, a bloodbath between the painfully small Rebel militia and British troops. In chapter 11, the Continentals Army comes to Redding. Afterwards, Tim finds Sam with his regiment. Tim, Sam, and Mother visit and Sam refuses to come home after his enlistment is done. In chapter 12, the Meekers find out Father died on a British prison ship. The Continental Army sets up camp in Redding for the winter. A few months later, Sam is taken in for being a cattle thief after being framed
It is 1865, and the war between the states has just ended. Booth’s rage is peaking as he recalls Union General Ulysses Grant’s participation in the fall of the Confederacy….
In “My Brother Sam is dead”, James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier portrayed Tim as a very brave man, smart man, and quick to grow into his role as the man of his house. Tim was a hard worker and a respectful kid. He did all that he could to keep his household running and was eventually rewarded for his hard work by being a successful
The novel “My Brother Sam is Dead” is a story told through a boy named Tim meeker and how he admires his brother Sam meeker. But throughout the story Sam and his father argue about how they feel about each other’s differences and about separating from England. Meanwhile Tim finds himself very confused as to which side he should part take into. The story takes place in the 1700’s during the revolutionary war. Tim and his family go through many hardships in this novel.
The book begins with an in-depth explanation of what happened in the latter stages of the Civil War. Major battles like Sayler’s Creek, High Bridge and Richmond are described through detailed language. For instance, at High Bridge, “Each man wages his own individual battle with a ferocity only a life-and-death situation can bring. Bullets pierce eyes. Screams and curses fill the air. The grassy plain runs blood red.” (page 61). All of these iconic Civil War battles led up to the Confederate surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse and the inescapable rebuilding of a new nation Abraham Lincoln had to deal with. Next, John Wilkes Booth is introduced and his pro-Confederate motives are made clear. His conspiracy to kill the president is described and his co-conspirators like Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt who also attempted to kill Secretary of State Seward a...
Sam R. Watkins was a Confederate soldier from Columbia, Tennessee. At age twenty-one, Watkins joined the First Tennessee Regiment along with one hundred and nineteen other young men and boys. He was one of only seven men to survive every one of its battles. He writes a memoir twenty years after being in the war about his experience as a private. Watkins juxtaposes stories of horror and gruesome death with humorous memories throughout his four years in the war.
Not because of strong convictions, but because he didn't known. He didn't know who was right, or what was right, he didn't know if it was a war of self-determination or self-destruction, outright aggression or national liberation; he didn't know if nations would topple like dominoes or stand separate like trees; he didn't know who really started the war, or why, or when, or with what motives; he didn't know if it mattered; he saw sense in both sides of the debate, but he did not know where the truth lay; he simply didn't know. He just didn't know if the war was right or wrong or somewhere in the murky middle. So he went to war for reasons beyond knowledge. Because he believed in law, and law told him to go. Because it was a democracy...He went to war because it was expected. Because not to go was to risk censure, and to bring embarrassment on his father and his town. Because, not knowing, he saw no reason to distrust those with more experience. Because he loved his country, and more than that, because he trusted it. Yes, he did. Oh, he would rather have fought with his father in France, knowing certain things certainly, but he couldn't choose his war, nobody could. (p. 234-235)
As a child grows, many people influence their development as a person. Some people impact more than others, and a select few really leave their mark. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” several characters play this role. Among them, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a woman who proves herself a strong character, prevails as the one who has the greatest impact on Scout Finch, the protagonist of this novel. As Scout matures and grows up, her views on the world around her change. Through subtle yet effective ways, Miss Maudie teaches Scout many life lessons about being humble, judging, and attitude, all of which ultimately have a great effect on the kind of person Scout develops into and her outlook on the world.
Mr. Heron was a double spy in My Brother Sam Is Dead. What people would know him as being is a Tory. He was a spy with Britain, and the Americans during that time. He lived in Redding, and was a surveyor. Know one really payed any attention to him or thought that he was very suspicious since he talked like a Tory. But in my brother Sam is dead he said that he talks like a Tory but he does not seem like one. This made Tim very confused with if he should trust him, or if he should not. Since he doesn't know if he is a Tory or a rebel he's not sure if you should trust Mr. Heron. And go and lie to his father which he did lie to his father in the. Next chapter and said he was going shad fishing. But instead he was going To deliver the note for Mr. Heron, which he eventually found out that roughly said if this letter makes it to you we will know that the delivery person is sort of trustworthy. So when Tim saw the letter I predict he
...is own. In an overall assessment of this book, Martin comes to the conclusion that “Campbell has succeeded in providing a thoughtful, very readable, and eminently useful survey of a fluid, exciting, and fascinating period of United States and Texas history through the lens of the life of the greatest Texas hero of them all” showing that Martin as well as Campbell seemed to be very fascinated by the heroism of Sam Houston (The Journal of Southern History, 60, November 1994, 796).
The loss of a loved one is never easy, and for author and memorist Coren Beck it shook him to his existential core and became the catalyst for a deep soul searching journey in which the exploration of his spiritual fortitude became a necessity that ultimately changed the course of his life. In his debut novel The Dead Brother Club, which memorializes his experiences, author Beck unflinchingly invites readers into his conflicted, grief shaken world and spiritual sojourn, which was started by the sudden and accidental death of his seventeen year old brother, Billy.
This is quite evident after the demise of their mother whereby the narrator intends to know as the eldest brother what Sonny intends to do in life before returning to war. He contends, “I’m going to be a musician (Baldwin 133).” This does not go well with the narrator who deems other people can embrace that life’s path but not his brother, hence brewing a discrepancy and misunderstanding amid them. It is through Sonny’s choice of pursuing jazz that unveils numerous flaws that characterizes their relationship with the narrator who insist of him completing the school first but eventually admits reluctantly. The extent of confusion and misunderstanding his Sonny is evident how the narrator can hardly imagine him in life he will be hanging in nightclubs in the company of others whom he refers as “good-time-people” (Baldwin 134). Probably, it is Sonny’s choice of jazz career that leads to long durations of silence among them without keeping in touch because the narrator feels his younger brother opted to embracing wrong life. In addition, the instilled notion of how reckless “good-time-people” (134) were by his father yielded to him fighting with Sonny for leading a loose life (Baldwin
The Carraway’s claim themselves to be loyal Americans. However, when Nick’s great uncle was called to fight in the Civil War, a substitute was sent in his place. This provides concrete evidence of Nick’s honesty. If he is able to see hypocrisy within his own family, there is no doubt that he is a forthright gentleman. Nick g...
Filled with a plethora of themes and convictions, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men excels in its endeavor to maintain the reader’s mind racing from cover to cover. The setting is the Texas-Mexico boarder; the story embodying a modernized western-themed Greek tragedy filled with drug runners and automatic weapons. Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran, finds himself on the run from forces that seem to be an instrument of karmic consequence. While on the run, Llewelyn is given the opportunity to end the madness that has arisen so immediately in his life. But he doesn’t. Instead he braves on, defying his own advice, and persistent on luck, only leaving him a misfortunate ending. To fully recognize the circumstance the novel surrounds itself in the reader must digress into the thoughts of the town’s Sheriff, an old vet just like Llewelyn, named Ed Tom Bell. From there and with a deep analysis of Llewelyn Moss, McCarthy succors light to why such an assessment was made amongst the lawless violence that has entered this town.