The Sisters Brothers by Patric deWitt

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Recommended: Now and then character analysis

In the novel The Sisters Brothers, we learn a lot about the two brothers Eli and Charlie. Their violent history as professional killers as a job leads the readers to believe that killing is a part of them, and nothing will ever change that. In my opinion, I think Charlie would have the hardest time adjusting to living in a peaceful environment, and “’removed from all earthly dangers and horror” rather than Eli having a hard time. From what I know by reading the book, I’ve learned that Charlie Sister is more actively violent than his brother Eli. I believe this is true because in the book during the early beginnings of the story line, their commander they’ve been working with for such a long time gave the brothers a task, and Eli was more hesitant “What if Warms not there? ‘He’ll be there’ ‘What if he’s not?’ ‘God damnit he will be’ ” (Dewitt. 10). As this quote proves that Eli Sisters was more hesitant towards their task to kill Hermann makes me believe that deep down inside Eli wants to change the way they live, and Charlie would have more of a hard time. You could tell that Eli was more eager to find Warm, while Eli contemplated the “what ifs” scenarios. The possibility of Charlie being front man instead of Eli can play a part on why Eli is more resistant than Charlie. Also, the personality that Eli portrays is more of a caring, soft, tender heart but those personality traits can be misleading because Eli still participates in the acts of killing. Secondly, I believe Eli and Charlie cannot remove themselves from the life style they grew up in because; they’ve made many enemies along the way. Hypothetically speaking what if they do successfully open up their shop, and one of the customers they get happen to be an enemy, o...

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... his sons to take over. Therefore, it would be hard not to be emotionally connected to the business because it was passed down from generation to generation. Lastly, in my opinion I believe that Eli is willing to do anything for his brother. Even though, he didn’t want to go on a mission for the commander, but he did it for his brother. Eli went to the extreme measure to protect his brother and himself by killing the commander “Casting the plug blade to the ground I pressed down on his shoulders so that his head dropped beneath the surface of the water”(Dewitt p. 317). This shows that Eli has the killing instinct in him, and he will do whatever it takes to protect himself and his brother. In conclusion, I believe that Eli and Charlie cannot live the life they want to live without any danger harming them due to the circumstances of their background history and past.

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