My Brother Sam is Dead- War is Gruesome
“They can murder whoever else they would like, for me the war will never be over.” (Collier and Collier 200) This quote was taken from chapter 14 of the book My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Christopher Collier, and was said by Mrs. Meeker. Mrs. Meeker is a mother and wife during the Revolutionary War, and lost both her son and her husband due to the war. Sam Meeker, who is the oldest Meeker, brother ran away to fight for the Patriots, though his parents claim to be Tories. Although both sides of the war are experienced and expressed in My Brother Sam is Dead, the authors make a strong conclusion throughout the book that war is gruesome.
One way the authors argue against war is that throughout
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"Have you ever seen a dear friend lying in the grass with the top of his skull off and his brains sliding out of them like wet oats? Have you ever looked into the eyes of a man with his throat cut and the blood pouring out between his fingers, knowing that there was nothing he could do, in five minutes he would be dead, yet still trying to beg for grace and not being able because his windpipe was cut in two? I have, Sam, I have." (Collier and Collier 20” This was taken from chapter one, when Mr. Meeker explains to Sam some of the bad memories he was had of the war, and he wants Sam to realize that war isn't just an abstract idea. It's got real consequences. And from what Mr. Meeker has seen, those consequences are seriously horrific. "Tim, please," he said calmly as he could. "It's dangerous. You think that because you're only a child they won't hurt you, but they will. They've been killing children in this war. They don't care. They'll throw you in a prison ship and let you rot. You know what happens to people on those prison ships? They don't last very long. Cholera gets them or consumption or something else, and they die. Tim, it isn't worth it." (Collier and Collier 71) Mr. Meeker makes it pretty clear in chapter five that he hates the war, and how bad the British prison ships are. “They put Jerry Stradford on a prison ship and he got sick and died in three weeks,” …show more content…
“The cowboys had lain in ambush in the hemlock groves, jumped Father, and taken him away someplace,” which was quoted by Tim Meeker in chapter ten. (Collier and Collier 161) This shows how useless it was to kidnap an innocent man for no reason. “In June 1777, we found out that Father and Jerry Stratford were dead. It had happened as we thought: they'd been sold to prison ship in New York. There was one funny thing- it wasn’t even a Rebel prison ship, it was a British.”(Collier and Collier 183) After the cowboys captured Mr. Meeker they sold him to a British prison ship where he ended up dying. “Those soldiers caught Sam with the your stolen cattle, and the soldiers will probably decide to hang him,” said Colonel Read. (Collier and Collier 196)This shows that the real cattle thieves are willing to lie so that Sam has to die for no reason. All Sam did was try and get his family's stolen cattle back. “Sam slammed backwards as if he had been knocked over. I never really heard the guns roar. He hit the ground on his belly and then flopped over on his back. He was shaking and thrashing, they had shot him so close that his clothes were on fire. He kept jerking and then another soldier shot him, then he stopped jerking.” (Collier and Collier 206) This was said by Tim in the last chapter of the book where his brother is shot for no reason due to
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
“This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war...”
“My Brother Sam is dead” is a historical fiction book written by two men named James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. This book is placed in Redding, Connecticut, during April is where the book started and was placed. Tim Meeker is the main character who has a brother Sam that left to war to fight for the patriots, but his family members are “Tories” who disagree with Sam’s decisions.
In the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, by James and Christopher Collier, they teach that there are many other ways to solve conflict besides war. War is violent, disgusting, and gruesome and so many people die in war. Families separate in war because of how many people want to be in the thrill of the war and also how many innocent family members die in the midst of war. Lastly, war is worthless and it was caused by a disagreement over something little and the outcome of war is not worth the many lives, time, and money and there are other ways to solve conflict besides to fight. War causes so many negative outcomes on this world that it needs to be avoided at all costs.
“Join, or Die.” “Don’t Tread on Me.” These are two mottos often used by Revolutionary supporters and fighters from about 1754 to 1783, and even sometimes today it is still used. These were battle cries that patriotic men would scream with all their might before charging onto the battlefield, where they might take their last breath. Nearly five thousand men gave their lives, for freedom’s sake. Their sacrifices were not done in vain, as the war was ended on September 3rd, 1783. This sense of victory and accomplishment is what lead these new Americans to further establishing their country, making their mark on history, and creating a new identity for themselves, as free men and woman.
Throughout history, war has been the catalyst that has compelled otherwise-ordinary people to discard, at least for its duration, their longstanding beliefs about the immorality of killing their fellow human beings. In sum, during periods of war, people’s views about killing others are fundamentally transformed from abhorrence to glorification due in large part to the decisions that are made by their political leaders. In this regard, McMahan points out that, “As soon as conditions arise to which the word ‘war’ can be applied, our scruples vanish and killing people no longer seems a horrifying crime but becomes instead a glorious achievement” (vii). Therefore, McMahan argues that the transformation of mainstream views about the morality of killing during times of war are misguided and flawed since they have been based on the traditional view that different moral principles somehow apply in these circumstances. This traditional view about a just war presupposes the morality of the decision to go to war on the part of political leaders in the first place and the need to suspend traditional views about the morality of killing based on this
In the novel My Brother Sam Is Dead is about a young man named Sam Meeker that studied at Yale University; decided to leave college and enlist to fight at the Revolutionary War instead. Sam wanted to borrow his father’s Brown Bess because he needed it to fight in the Revolutionary War. But their problem was that his Father caught him. Samuel was charged AWL by General Putman. So Tim went to camp to try to convince General Putman to release his brother. Then, Tim couldn’t change Putman’s decision and Sam was executed.
Soon enough the war will be part of the past for most but for them they are in battle every time they close their eyes. "Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing anymore. I am so alone and so without hope that I can confront them without fear" (Chapter 12). These men have nothing left. Nothing else can happen in life to them that will cause any more damage.
“You may know principle, Sam, but I know war,” (Collier and Collier 21). Mr. Meeker is trying to tell Sam about the brutality of war because he has been through war and knows the actuality and Sam does not. Sam wants to fight, but does not know the reality of war where as Mr. Meeker does and does not want to fight. “After a few things like that you don’t give a damn for anybody but your friends anymore,” (Collier and Collier 173). Sam’s views on war have changed after he finally experiences a battle for the first time. Sam realizes that his father was right and that, “War turns men into animals,” (Collier and Collier 173). Many people still today face the grim brutal realities of war after being misled about the glories of
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.
During the time period of the Revolutionary War, over 4,000 people had lost their lives during the frenzy of the war. The authors of the book, My Brother Sam is Dead, states that the death of so many people could have been avoided. Along with their statement, they also hint at the opposition to war through multiple events in the book. They show how the people of Redding were affected throughout the course of the book, in both positive and negative outputs. The authors of the book present both opposing sides of the Revolutionary War, the Loyalists and the Patriots. What the authors don’t do is support one side, but rather support the dissent towards war itself.
In My Brother Sam Is Dead, Sam Meeker clearly shows what he believes by enlisting in the American Revolutionary Army. Even if it means losing his father's love and trust forever, Sam feels that what England is doing to the colonies is wrong. He also knows that if he doesn't fight on the American side, his soul would never rest. Sam Meeker risks everything, including his life, to support and defend the new United States and all of his beliefs. He and the other soldiers could have easily given up and gone home, but they know that by letting the British win, they would show everyone how weak the American army, as a whole, really is. His brave decision to stay does cost him his life, but it also helps to ensure that the Unites States would be free of England.
“Every war is everyone’s war”... war will bring out the worst in even the strongest and kindest people. The book tells about how ones greed for something can destroy everything for both people and animals leaving them broken beyond repair, leaving them only with questions… Will they ever see their family again? Will they ever experience what it’s like to
In a single quote to wrap up the book “When you stop believing, you stop going to war”. This quote is very true when we stop belief in the cause and the myth it will be different.
In the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, the author demonstrates the effects of war on families, on towns, and even on the children. The author makes it clear that war tears up families more than anything else. As a result of families getting ruined, it affects the children of the family, in this case, by making Tim grow up in a short amount of time. War affects towns, too. Soldiers, some from both sides, raid houses and kill people therefore splitting up towns and communities. War has many bad effects, just like Tim’s father said: “In war the dead pay the debts of the living.”.