Character Analysis: My Brother Sam Is Dead

The ship was cold and food was scarce. It was no condition for a little ten year old boy. He was a prisoner of the war with little hope. Snatched out of his life he was helpless and was destined to die while others lived. He asked to himself, “Why me? Why not someone else?” His death actually happened in history, but also in the novel, My Brother Sam Is Dead. It is the year 1775, the Revolutionary War is just stirring among the people and around the life of the narrator, Tim Meeker. Tim is the youngest son in a family that runs a tavern in the town of Redding. The Meeker family goes through many sufferings at the cost of war. His older brother, Sam is a Yale student who goes to war to fight the British against his father’s wishes.

A true indication of a person’s character is the actions she/ he takes when dealing with life’s conflicts. In My Brother Sam is Dead, the authors, James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, create Tim Meeker. Tim, a twelve year old, is growing up and facing many conflicts during the era of the American Revolution. While Tim is dealing with these internal and external conflicts, the reader can see Tim’s personality traits: confused and creative, by what he says and does, and by what others say in response to him.

Tim had to get everything home safely and was forced to take over all of his father's duties. By this time many soldiers had come through Redding and killed many people, mostly friends. It was very hard for Tim and his mother to keep the tavern and chores up by themselves. Sam ended up being wintered in a town close to Redding and his mother begged him to come home but he insisted on staying in the military and fighting for freedom.

War can have an immense effect on an individual's life. Warfare can create opportunities by ending tyranny or providing people with freedom. On the other hand, war puts innocent lives at risk and causes families to be torn apart. Depending on how greatly a person is affected, individuals choose how to view war; particularly, in My Brother Sam Is Dead, James and Christopher Collier write about Tim’s horrendous experiences during war. Tim’s decision to be neutral is ultimately decided when war inflicts death upon his friends and family; in this case, Ned, his father, and Sam.

Chapter 7-9 of My Brother Sam is Dead tells of the Meeker men’s woes in the road to and from Verplanks Point. In chapter 7, Sam sends letters to the Meekers. Soon after, Tim and Father leave for Verplanks Point. Tim and Father are ambushed by cowboys (cattle bandits) when heading through Ridgebury. Some British show up and drive the cowboys off.

After reading the story, “My Brother Sam Is Dead”, Tim felt his loyalty has been falling apart between him and Sam. In the story Sam refused to go with Tim to the tavern to help

My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier relates to “99 Red Balloons” by Nena, “Get Up” by Superchick, and “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan through some of the lyrics. “99 Red Balloons” tells about a war and the lyrics relate to Susannah (Mother), Life (Father), Sam, and Tim Meeker along with Betsey Read. “Get Up” relates to Sam specifically because he is so confident he won’t fail. “Wavin’ Flag” relates mainly to Sam again, but also relates to Tim.

There are many skills Sam used, some were burning out the inside of his tree to make room to live in, some helped him to gather food, and some helped him to simply stay inside of a happy mood. The first skill I’ve chosen is the technique Sam used to figure out how to burn down the inside of his

My Brother Sam is Dead is about a young boy, Tim Meeker, who goes through multiple conflicts while his brother, Sam Meeker, is in the war. This is hard for the Meeker family since Sam was so admired but lost that admiration because he decided to join the ‘rebel’ army for the war. Tim looked up to Sam looked up to Sam and always thought he was smart while their father, being someone who was on the British side, looked down on Sam for joining the ‘wrong’ side. Sam ran away from home, taking what he wanted, and went back on to the war not saying goodbye to his friends or family, only coming back home once for just a few days. A bit later in the book, no one hears from Sam for a couple of years. During this time period, the Meeker family goes through

Sam. There’ll be no more talk on this tonight” (Collier and Collier 159). War over time will begin to break even the strongest relationships among families

In the novel, My Brother Sam Is Dead, the character Tim doesn’t know whether to support the Rebels or Tories. Tim is confused because he doesn’t know whether to be loyal to Sam, his father, or Mr. Heron. There are conflicts in the story between Tim and other characters. The conflicts Tim has with Sam, his father, and Mr. Heron is that he doesn’t know who to be loyal to.

In his word Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien presents an unlikely hero in Samwise Gamgee, the most direct companion of Frodo Baggins in his quest to destroy the one Ring. While many other characters show honorable traits, Samwise demonstrates true servanthood, a brave heart, and perseverance, even through the land of Mordor. One of Sam’s most prominent character trait is his spirit of servanthood, which develops into a complete devotion to his master and his quest. Like many of his traits, he had a servant’s heart before the quest even began.

If I was to put myself in the authors shoes of the text “A Brother Lost”, I would imagine myself doing exactly the same as her at first. I would not be able to let my love one go. I would not know what to think, worried every night. Losing myself as I was trying to find my loved one. Asking myself questions like “Are they okay?” “Did they eat today?” or “Where are they sleeping tonight?”. I would feel like it is my job to know these things. Just like the author I would have been an emotional wreck till I was able to get the realization being homeless is what my loved one wants, and it may even be helping them mentally. I think one thing I would have done differently would be to reach out more, I wouldn’t have been able to go days or weeks without

Sam has an amazingly long list of accomplishments in his life. These accomplishments started in his early years. Sam was the youngest Eagle Scout in his state of Missouri (“Wikipedia”). Sam was only in 8th grade. Growing up in the great depression, Sam was prone to do many chores on his Father’s farm (“Wikipedia”). Sam was also forced to get a job to make ends meet. Sam excelled in academics. He was also the starting quarterback on the football field for hickman high school (Walton). Before Graduating Sam was voted, “Most Versatile Boy”(“Biography”). Sam later continued on to college at Missouri State University. He studied as a ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) cadet 9 (“Wikipedia”). He took his extensive training and joined the military to participate in WW2.

In the book, “Brother, I’m Dying”, written by Edwidge Danticat, which is about her realizing her father is dying the same day she finds out she’s pregnant. Throughout the memoir, Danticat explains her childhood was spent mostly apart from her parents, when they departed for the US and left her and her brother bob, in the care of Uncle Joseph and Tanté Denise. Danticat shows a clear figurative and literal use of voice and expresses how it effects one’s life when they have lost their voice and helps us to understand how it can be crippling to the inhibitor’s life. Danticat’s memoir discusses, First, the separation of her mother and father, in the early years of her life created a constant strain on the ability to communicate with one another, and how she would try to interpret their feelings through the letters. Secondly, Danticat explains how it affects her uncle when, he loses his voice from a radical laryngectomy, when it was discovered that he has throat cancer. Danticat also discusses how she has become the median to her father and uncles’ relationship. Third, Danticat tells the story of immigrants being in a strange land and not being able to effectively communicate for themselves. Lastly, Danticat uses her memoir as a way to speak for the people in Haiti that suffer every day, and the immigrants who she documented in Krome of being abused and treated like criminals even though all they were guilty of was trying to find a better life.