My Brother Sam Is Dead

Out of the six chapters, I prefer to write about Chapter One and Two: The Duel and The Dinner. This book was very intriguing and helped in the understanding of the post-revolutionary America and the lives of the founding brothers and what they went through.

“My Brother Sam is Dead” is a great book in my opinion, and many others to. The book has a great story, background, outline, characters, etc. But, some people have found things they don’t like about the book, and apparently they don’t like the reasons so much that they go and get the booked banned/challenged. They said it was because of violence, profanity, unpatriotic views/believes religious believes, etc. Banned/challenged or not, this book is an all-around good, it even got a silver sticker for being on the best books published, or something like that.

There are a lot of books and movies about the Revolutionary War. Some of them are more historical fiction, which is what I will be covering in this essay. The novel "My Brother Sam Is Dead" and the movie "The Patriot" have many similarities when it comes to the Revolutionary War. However, the two families have completely different experiences during the war. In the end, both the book and the movie do an excellent job at showcasing the experiences of those fighting in the war.

After a few years of going to church with his family fervently on Sundays, fourteen year old Sam lost his father, which later on would describe as “Only one for passion, a military life” .

My Brother Sam Is Dead. What is it about that statement that develops the book so much? I think that when you start reading the book that the title interests you and draws you to read it more. There are so many different ways that it can be interpreted you don't know what to expect until your done with the book and all the pieces fit together. The statement

The American Revolution was a war of principles fought by Loyalists and Patriots. However, Loyalists believed in neutrality, peace, and no brutality or treason. Therefore, Patriots believed in freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and the right to break away from the British government. In the novel My Brother Sam is Dead created by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, a family disputes over which side is right. James and Christopher Collier use the ironies of Life, Jerry, and Sam's death to induce Tim's decision of neutrality.

Set against the backdrop of the Californian Gold Rush of the 1850s, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt follows the lives of two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters. The Sisters Brothers tells the story of these infamous assassins who are on a journey to San Francisco to kill a man named Hermann Kermit Warm. Warm appears to be a subtle man, who is accused of stealing from their boss, a formidable figured named the Commodore. As the brothers continue on with their journey, they come across many people from all walks of life: a weeping man, gold-digging prospectors, a young-naïve boy, and a dentist. Although the brothers don’t realize it, these individuals help the brothers perceive the world in a completely different way. Not to mention, they change the way the novel is bestowed. The brothers eventually end up at their final destination in San Francisco from Oregon City, where they realize that their adventure has actually just begun. After several eye-opening incidents, the brothers begin to question their jobs, and the true meaning of their lives.

In the story of “The Rich Brother”, from the author Tobias Wolff, and “Sonny’s Blues” by writer James Baldwin, both stories have brothers that succeed and failed. In “The Rich Brother” Pete is the oldest and Donald the youngest, Pete has his life put together, a family, and while the youngest is trying to find himself his lost. In “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator is the oldest brother and Sonny is the youngest, the unnamed narrator is an English teacher who was in the army and has a family, Sonny is a musician that makes bad decisions. Both brothers have an age gap therefore, they view life in different ways, but they only have each other.

The novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, written by Christopher Collier and James Collier in 1974 is a historical-fiction, based off the American Revolution. It features the Meeker family, a Loyalist family that is caught in the war between the Americans and the British, and how they change as a family. Specifically, the youngest child of the Meeker family, Tim Meeker, the main protagonist and one of the last two surviving members of the family at the end of the narrative. Tim Meeker’s role in the Colliers’ My Brother Sam is Dead is to help express the reoccurring theme of the story that people can change under dire situations.

Hundreds of bodies littered the ground. Sounds of explosions and endless gunfire filled the air. Soldiers, with their uniforms splashed in crimson, fought viciously and ruthlessly. Their main objective, which was to win the battle, took a backseat to their newfound desperation to stay alive. After all, war is not a game, especially one such as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and left its survivors haunted by a multitude of atrocious events. Terry Erickson’s father and George Robinson, who were two fictional characters from the short stories “Stop the Sun” and “Dear America”, respectively, were veterans of the Vietnam War. The differences and similarities between Terry’s father and George Robinson are striking, and they merit rigorous scrutiny.

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

James Webb focuses on three main characters in his novel: Robert E. Lee Hodges, “Snake,” and Will “Senator” Goodrich. The inspiration for these three characters seems to be not the life of any particular historical figure, but rather the common backgrounds of real soldiers who served in Vietnam in general. Characters in the novel are most often developed only after their initial introduction into the story. After introducing a character to the reader, Webb will often follow this introduction with the story of the characters life before the military and how or why he decided to enlist. Those characteristics not mentioned at his introduction or those that change are typically revealed during or after intense, traumatic events, such as near-death experiences or witnessing the death of a friend. Although the novel centers on only three characters, these three characters represent highly prominent reasons that American’s had for enlisting; to continue a family legacy and protect his family’s honor, to escape the steep decline and unhappiness of his life, and by accident or unwillingly being drafted.

Her Uncle, Emmet, is also sent to Vietnam only when he comes back to the United States he suffers from PTSD and becomes a hippie. After Emmet returns from War Sam’s mother, Irene, takes care of him and eventually lets Emmet be the caretaker of Sam and the house as she moves to Lexington to continue school and start a family at the University of Kentucky. During this time Sam and Emmet become very close and Sam spends time around some more time with some of Emmett's friends that are also vets. The story follows Sam as she searches for more detailed information about what exactly Vietnam was like, meanwhile trying to find out more about her father in the process. Not only is this a coming of age story, but also one of a loss of innocence. Sam ultimately discovers that the war was viewed in different ways and had differing effects in the soldiers morals.

How maybe he was a scholar and maybe his parents were farmers.  Then O'Brien goes on to talk of maybe why this young man was in the army, and maybe why he was fighting;  these are something’s that are taught in the schools.  O'Brien states that the man may have joined because he was struggling for independence, juts like all the people that were fighting with him.  Maybe this man had been taught from the beginning that to defend the land was a mans highest duty and privilege.  Then on the other hand maybe he was not a good fighter, and maybe in poor health but had been told to fight and could not ask any questions.  These reasons are all reasons that are taught in textbooks; they go along with the idea of the draft.  Some people go fight because they want to and others go because they are told they have to. How do you tell these people apart in the heat of battle or when they are dead?  The way that O'Brien starts to describe the young man as someone who was small and frail, and maybe had plans for a bright future puts sorrow in the readers heart, in that all his plans can not happen for him or maybe the family that is longing for his return.  It also shows the regret that maybe going on in the killers’ mind.  For O'Brien to be writing on how this young mans life has come to a sudden end and his plans for the future is over is intriguing.  Then to add to that he had the story written through the eyes of the soldier that ended this young mans life.  The

“Could the United States have made its way without all that agony and killing?” asked Collier and Collier. The historic fiction novel, My Brother Sam Is Dead, took place during the Revolutionary War. War was going on and the Meeker family experienced tension, confusion, and disagreements on thoughts and opinions towards the battles. Multiple themes represented different feelings felt by the townspeople, including the Meeker family. Tim Meeker, our teenage narrator, told the author’s story throughout the book of his personal experience in Redding, Connecticut during 1775. Sam Meeker, Tim’s older brother disagreed with his father’s principles and fought for the Patriots against the British. Tim’s Loyalist town did not agree with Sam’s actions, leaving Tim stuck in the middle. Not only does Tim mature and find his way throughout the story, he learned a lot about family, war, and survival during the Revolutionary War as well. Colonists who wanted the war and the people who wished not for war both have their cases presented in the story, but the authors agree that war is futile.