My Brother Sam Is Dead Themes

“Dog Tags: Divided We Fall” by C. Alexander London is about a boy who’s brother is lost in the Civil War. Andrew is the boy who lost his brother in the war. His brother went to the war even though he was under age. He was lost in action and can’t be found. Andrew’s brother Julius was sending letters then stopped. Andrew was upset and wanted to go find him but his parent wouldn’t let him. So then Andrew did the unthinkable, he snuck off and went looking for his brother. He found a dead man and took his uniform. Andrew was looking for Julius for a while when he thought to look at Mary’s, his brother’s love’s, house . He found Julius there and they had to take the long journey home. When they got home they had a big meal and got through the war

The way Tim has changed throughout My Brother Sam Is Dead is a significant change. At the beginning of the story Tim thinks “I can’t wait tell me and Sam a lying in the attic and him telling me about Yale®. Gosh I really want to be like Sam.” As you can see Tim want to be like Sam. When Sam left with the brown bess Tim thought Sam should stay home. In the middle Tim wanted Sam to be home. Tim started changing when father died. In the middle/end Father and Tim went to get rum from a town Father got taken away by the Redcoats/Cowboys. The Merkers except for Sam are Torys/Loyllets. Tim started doing more chores. One day when Tim was eating breakfast he did not complain about chores. He usually would complain about chores and delayed breakfast.

One way the authors argue against war is it tears families apart. “No, you’re going to get yourself killed. Well you might as well. Let’s have it all done with at once. How does the old line go? Men must fight and women must weep, but you’ll get no more tears from me. I’ve done my weeping for this war.” Mrs.Meeker is basically saying she’s over the war, and does not want anything to do with it. Tim and Mrs.Meeker are having an argument, which is showing how their family is broken. “They can murder who they like, church who they like, but I’m not going. For me the war is over.” This line from the book says it all. That quote is the thing that shows a broken family. Not going to see your son one last time before

Through the war, Tim found a new side of himself. One that was brave and strong. Tim explained this by saying, “He wished he could have explained some of this. How he had been braver than he ever thought possible.” (Page 147) By finding this new side, he was able to support his fellow soldiers. Thus, Tim turns into a shining bright for the soldiers. He starts to be a positive light for them in the toughness of the war.“I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again” stated Tim (page172).” This quote shows how Tim helped his men through war. He helped people and took positives from the war. Thus, Tim O’Brien provided a positive influence for his men by being positive and

Chapter 3 in My Brother Sam is Dead illustrates how war doesn’t necessarily affects everyone, even if you can get news of a battle before nightfall and it happened at noon. In the beginning, Tim talks of how the war is not really affecting the people of Redding. Betsy Read comes by the tavern. Betsy and Tim talk in secret behind the tavern. Betsy makes Tim swear to not tell anyone if Sam were to come back to Redding. As predicted, Sam is coming back to Redding. Betsy doesn’t know when Sam is coming back. Tim doesn’t receive word of Sam’s return for about two months. Betsy gives Tim a signal that Sam is back in October.

He states that “[He] would go to war- [He] would kill and maybe die- because [He] was embarrassed” (O’Brien 57). He soon realized that he should have escaped when he had the chance because it was better than experiencing the horrors and traumatic experiences that soldiers go through. Sometimes what society thinks can get the best of you and lead you to do things that are against your beliefs and morals. This is what Tim is trying to say through the book to the readers who might find themselves in similar situations.

A little ten year old boy was taken as a prisoner of war. He was snatched out of his life and destined to die while others lived. 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. The narrator is Tim Meeker, the youngest son in a family that runs their 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. Through the course of the book, many sufferings arise in Redding. Life gets tougher and the Meekers experience the hard reality of war. The authors are against war because they

Through the initial characterization of young Tim, O’Brien suggests that when faced with unexpected life changing dilemmas people will more often than naught end up clouded judgement and panic. Young Tim is ambitious and well educated, he is on his way to Harvard University on a scholarship. His life is heading in the best direction possible. This is until he receives the draft letter. His ideals “hurtling down a huge black funnel” and all he can do is “nothing …wait.” His helpless soon becomes rage, rage towards the government who’s motives for the war “were shrouded in uncertainty”. He is “too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything.” “Why don’t they “draft some back-to-the-stone-age hawk?” Why must he, who doesn’t support this “uncertain” war “put [his] own precious fluids on the line.” As “the rage in [his] stomach” “burned down” he soon

In addition, Tim is torn between both sides. He asks why Sam has to be not nice to Father and tells him that he had it nice; he had money for books and studies that Father sent him. He asks, “Listen, Sam, why do you always have to get into a fight with Father?” (Collier and Collier, 15). According to later chapters Tim looks up to both his father and brother. The split between father and brother causes his dilemma. After being torn between sides and fighting about the sides, it is evident that war tears families apart.

    A little ten year old boy is snatched out of his life as he was taken as a prisoner of war. He is destined to die when others lived. His death actually happened in history, but also in the novel, My Brother Sam Is Dead. It is the year 1775, the Revolutionary War just stirring among the people. The narrator is Tim Meeker, the youngest son in a family that runs their tavern in the town of Redding. The Meeker family goes through lots of 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. As the war goes on life gets tougher and the Meekers experience the hard reality of war. Tim is split between the sides of war, but realizes neither side is right. As Tim goes through story the authors show the reader of the difficulties of war. In My Brother Sam Is Dead although both sides are shown, authors Collier and Collier argue that war is futile.

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.

In the stories Tim O’ Brien and I shared, there is this one little detail in common, we both made a choice. At first, the decision of moving to Canada felt like a selfish decision I was “forced” to make only for the family’s sake. Actually, I even held them responsible for my misery for a couple of weeks. But as those weeks and months pass by, I came to realize that such choice was actually one of the greatest things that can happen to me, for it was more than just an opportunity for our family to be whole but a breakthrough to endless possibilities towards reaching my dreams. However, for Tim, without any further details after he went to the war, we are

"In war the dead pay the debts for the living," (Collier and Collier 167). The real cost of war is so great that the thought of paying the price is rather unfathomable. In My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier we get a glimpse into the lives of not only the Meekers but the people of their town and we observe the price they paid for one of the biggest and most powerful wars of our American history, The American Revolution. In this historical fiction, Tim Meeker must choose whether he wants to be a loyal subject to the king of England or a rebellious and freedom yearning American Patriot like his role model and brother, Sam Meeker. By 13-year-old Tim Meeker and ten-year-old

Tim is a young boy forced to go to war with all hopes of returning home. He is thrown into Alpha Company with men much similar to his situation of being forced to go to war through the draft and wanting to go home. He is now forced to make bonds and friendships with his new brothers. This bond of friendship helps the men of Alpha Company survive on a day to day basis. These men looked to each

He believes that their is a possibility that people are needlessly dying for a war that doesn’t make any sense. This makes him an outsider in his hometown because the way that he views this war is vastly different from his home town. Tim doesn’t get the sense of pride in his country for joining the war like his community does, and he asks questions about the war that he feels that his community won’t ask because of their patriotism, and viewing the war as something to be proud of.