War. Good or Bad?
“This war had turned men into animals” (Collier and Collier 174). The novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier is a novel that explains the unfairness of war. Sam, one of the main characters, runs away from Yale to enroll in the army to fight for the Patriots. War is terrible and it is best not to get involved in it when people rely on you for other things. One way the authors argue against war is it results in family division. “Go, Sam. Go. Get out of my sight”(Collier and Collier 22)! Mr. Meeker yells at Sam Meeker when he finds out that Sam is on the Patriot side. Mr. Meeker kicks Sam out of the house because he’s a “Tory”. Also, because of the war, Tim Meeker, doesn’t get to meet his cousins until he was 13! “They were curious about me-they’d been hearing about me for twelve years, and finally they were seeing me with their own eyes”(Collier and Collier 100). Tim said this about his cousins when he met them for the first time. “If you don’t stop arguing with me I’ll
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“War turns men into beasts”(Collier and Collier 200). This statement summarizes a lot! There were so many unreasonable deaths it is hard to count. First of all, Mr. Meeker was captured for no reason and died on a British prison ship when he was a “Tory”! “It had happened pretty much as we’d guessed it: he’d been sent to a prison ship, it was a British one. We never did figure out how that had happened”(Collier and Collier 164).Then, Sam’s death shouldn’t have happened. He was accused for stealing his own cattle when really he was chasing the people who actually did steal them. “They had shot him so close that his clothes were on fire. He went on jerking with flames on his chest until another soldier shot him again. Then he stopped jerking”(Collier and Collier 208). These events show that people don’t care about facts they go off of what they hear from
“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.
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.
My Brother Sam is Dead Author: by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier Category: Historical Fiction Summary: It starts out in the 1770's during the Revolution War and Samuel Meeker or Sam for short just interred the room of the tavern and he chimes in to everybody who is waiting to eat, he comes in saying where beating the Lobster Backs. His father, Eliphalet Meeker but called Life for short, starts arguing with son. After a while they calmed down and change the subject.
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.
War always seems to have no end. A war between countries can cross the world, whether it is considered a world war or not. No one can be saved from the reaches of a violent war, not even those locked in a safe haven. War looms over all who recognize it. For some, knowing the war will be their future provides a reason for living, but for others the war represents the snatching of their lives without their consent. Every reaction to war in A Separate Peace is different, as in life. In the novel, about boys coming of age during World War II, John Knowles uses character development, negative diction, and setting to argue that war forever changes the way we see the world and forces us to mature rapidly.
The dramatic realization of the fact that the war will affect a member of the Chance family is apparent in this quote. The amount of sorrow and emotions felt by the Chance family, and for that matter, all families who had children, brothers, husbands, or fathers, drafted into what many felt was a needless war. The novel brings to life what heartache many Americans had to face during the Vietnam era, a heartache that few in my generation have had the ability to realize.
“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
The Civil War, World War I, the Vietnam War, World War II, and the conflict in the Middle East are all wars that have been fought over the difference of opinions, yet come at the cost of the soldier 's fighting them; Humans killing other humans, and death is just one of the many emotional scars soldiers of war face. Why do we go to war when this is the cost? For many it is because they are unaware of the psychological cost of war, they are only aware of the monetary cost or the personal gains they get from war. Tim O 'Brien addresses the true cost of war in "The Things They Carried". O 'Brien suggests that psychological trauma caused by war warps the perception of life in young Americans drafted into the Vietnam War. He does this through Lieutenant
The three incredible works of literature by Owen, OBrien, and Sassoon give a true sense of what fighting for ones country was really like. The battles, soldiers, and wars that most of the public see is glorified tremendously through movies and books mainly. These writers wanted a change and they went about this by giving the true and honest facts of what happened. War should be thought of as a tough obstacle that no one should ever have to go through, a sad occurrence, or a horrible burden, but not as a glorious victory. In order to reach that victory, the road is anything but sweet.
What does war do to a man? It destroys his inner being; it crushes hope; it kills him. Experiencing battle leaves only the flesh of a man, for he no longer has a personality; it leaves a wasteland where a vast field of humanity once was. Through the main character, Paul Baumer, the reader experiences the hardships and consequences of war. During the course of the war, Paul reflects on how the young men involved in the war have no future left for them, they've become a "lost generation." Paul feels that his generation has "become a wasteland" because the war has made him into a thoughtless animal, because he knew nothing before the war, and because the war has shown the cheapness of human life.
“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
They try to escape the war and run away, however, they cannot escape the reality of the war. In this time the US was in the cold war and determined to stop communism from spreading anywhere. The US went into Vietnam to stop the spread of communism, but the war was HIGHLY protested in the US and not popular with the soldiers or the people of Vietnam who supported the communist regime. Because of this, the war was nearly impossible for the US to win, and the soldiers endured intense suffering in the jungles of Vietnam. The My Lai massacre was one of the most important events that showed that the distinction between enemy and ally was blurred, and American forces shot at anyone, man woman or child, they saw. This kind of brutality led to the mental breakdown of soldiers like Billy Boy and Berlin. Additionally, the American soldiers didn’t even really understand why they were in Vietnam fighting or did not strongly believe their cause. Vietnam is considered a shameful war in the US so when those veterans returned they were not treated with honor and gratitude, rather with disdain, which further took a toll on several of the soldiers who returned. The book also characterized war in general as not only being external but internal. War is about survival, and maintaining one’s mental stability and sanity. One’s greatest
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
As you go through the journey of life you begin to realize the many obstacles you have to over come but what charts your growth is home you over come them. This quote resembles the story of My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. Brothers Christopher and James have been writing historical fiction for young people since the early 1970s and have been known as masters of the genre. This book was named a Newbery Honor Book in 1975 and recently received a Phoenix Award. It has also taught an entertaining glimpse into a teenager's life in colonial times. Using real dates, people, and historical events it has a almost reality based story to grow and progress as a character of the American Revolution.
War affects families more than anything else. An example of this is when Tim’s mother drinks rum a lot when she finds out that her husband and son are dead or are going to get killed. Once she starts to drink, she does not care about Tim or Sam. So in this case, war caused her to drink and it killed half of her family, both of which ruined the Meeker family. One of war’s worst by-products is ruining families. Even though war affects families the most, there are still other bad effects on children and on towns.