Summary Of My Brother Sam Is Dead

In the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, Father says, “Is it worth war to save a few pence in taxes?” (Collier and Collier 21). This quote summarizes the main idea of that war does nothing. My Brother Sam is Dead is written by James and Christopher Collier. The authors introduce many strong characters that include Sam, Tim, Life, and Susannah Meeker and takes place during the American Revolutionary War. The authors, Collier and Collier, try to prove that war does not help by adding the theme inside of a realistic plot that involves family and death, something everyone has or has gone through in their life. By adding family and death, it makes readers connect the story to our life and makes the reader question if war is actually worth it if the

My Brother Sam Is Dead is based on a young man and his family. Tim big brother named Sam went into the war between the Loyalist and the Patriots. During the war Sam’s father disagreed for him to go into the war as a soldier of the Patriots because he told Sam that he could either be a tory or get out of the house. When Sam enlisted to be part of the Patriots, the Patriots side wasn’t doing so good as the Loyalist due to the lack of food supply, some of the soldier was man who was under 18 and were beginners, the cold weather and bad clothing, and the lack supplies of transportation.

223 years ago, an innocent, ten-year-old boy died on a prison ship. His name was Jerry Sanford and he lived with Captain Starr, a local Patriot. The day Jerry was captured, British troops raided the only home he had ever known and killed several of his friends including his guardian, Daniel Starr. In My Brother Sam Is Dead, one of Jerry’s friends was a boy named Tim Meeker. He was not killed the day of the attack on Starr’s house, but witnessed the deaths from behind a rock. In the story, Tim has a brother: Samuel Meeker. He was a Patriot soldier fighting in the American Revolution for freedom, rights, and glory. Sam and Tim’s parents, however, were loyal to the British Crown and disapproved of their son fighting with the rebels. In My Brother Sam Is Dead, although both sides of the war are shown, authors James and Christopher Collier ultimately argue that war is futile.

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.

A young 16 year old boy marches away from his loved ones, not knowing that he might not see them again. That young boy is Sam Meeker. He leaves his family in, My Brother Sam is Dead, to pursue his dreams of freedom in the colonies. Little does he know, he would only see them three more times. He does not get that war tears his family apart and clashes himself and his father. Although he is mature, but doesn’t get the principles vs. realities in war. In My Brother Sam is Dead, although both sides of war are shown, authors James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, ultimately argue that war is futile.

My Brother Sam is Dead is a young adult historical fiction by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. The book realistically illustrates what happened in the American Revolution. Sam would steal his father’s gun for the war. Sam is a patriot and fought in the Revolutionary War. His father is a Loyalist and against Sam fighting in the Revolutionary War. Events that happen in the book are Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), and Mr. Meeker died (Sam’s father). In this essay, I will talk about the similarities and the differences events that happened in the books and reality.

Can you imagine fighting and living through the beginning of the American Revolution? Authors James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier published in 1974, My Brother Sam Is Dead. This book occurred in Redding, Connecticut in 1776 during the American Revolution. My Brother Sam Is Dead is a story of a sixteen-year-old, Sam Meeker, which decided to join the army to fight against the British. While his younger brother, Tim Meeker must decide between his brother’s loyalty to become an independent nation from the British or his father’s loyalty to the British government. Several months had passed and the Rebels, which fought against the British, had kidnapped their father, Eliphalet Meeker. Two thieves broke into Sam and Tim’s barn and Sam chased the thieves, but a group of men apprehended and framed him for their crime, leaving his fate uncertain.

War. It can either make a nation or break one. The people who have died in war to achieve their principles of freedom are the foundation of almost every great country. Legendary places, nations, and homes are the outgrowth of fruitful wars that have been fought by people wanting to end injustice. Even though war can end successfully with freedom and justice, it can also end with brutality and loss of life. In a lot of wars, fights have been fought and lives have been lost without the wanted outcome. In My Brother Sam is Dead, the Collier brothers have shown war’s injustice and brutality as well as the accomplishment of one’s principle. The passings of Jerry Sanford, Tim’s father(Life), and his brother, Sam Meeker, induced Tim’s decision of war to be neutral.

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

My Brother Sam is Dead is a novel that is written by James Lincoln and Christopher Collier; is historical fiction; and was based during the Revolutionary War that focuses on a family in Redding, Connecticut, with two boys; the oldest, Sam, and the youngest, Tim. During the first couple of chapters, the book explains that Sam, was a Patriot, and their father,Life, was a Tory that was mad at all Patriots including his son; because of this, Sam runs away to war. This novel’s main character,Tim was not sure about his beliefs on the British war, he experiences life’s hardships and thinks he believes in being a patriot; unlike his Father. The theme of the character “Tim” is a huge journey that is extremely hard and must go through some tough times.

In every American war combined, about 1.2 million soldiers have died fighting in battle. Many look past the effects and consequences that going to war can lead to and every soldier is assumed to be a hero. Others believe that killing anybody, whether they are innocent or on a battlefield, is in no way honorable. Writers who protest war use imagery, irony, and structure to explain the negative effects of battle.

America is well known and hated across the globe for its involvement in foreign conflicts and affairs. The self proclaimed police of the world, America often goes too far when it comes to its involvement overseas. Many times the outcomes of these conflicts is overlooked and the effect it will have on america and other countries. Often times the American news media and politicians will claim that America 's goal is to bring freedom and liberty to other countries. However, this is a ploy to get the public on board and in reality war is used to make politicians and corporations richer. Tim O’Brien experienced this firsthand when he was shipped off to Vietnam in 1969. When he came back he finished his education at Harvard and was inspired to write a memoir about his experiences. “If I Die in a Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home” tells his story as a foot soldier and the effects it had on himself and other soldiers physically, emotionally, and mentally. The books starts with O’Brien as a child playing war games and then moves to when he was drafted. In the bootcamp O’Brien had contemplated deserting but ultimately decided not to so that his family would not be disgraced. He was then sent off to Vietnam where he was placed in the Alpha company. O’Brien talks about things like his involvement in ambushes to his interactions with locals. With this piece O’Brien was trying to show the horrors of war and and how it affected the soldiers sent to fight in

The Vietnam War divided the country and led to several americans searching for not only their identity and morals, but the morals of the nation as a whole. Many people questioned what good the fighting was for and saw more and more news coverage about the horrible failures of the War leading to a mistrust in the U.S. government. In Bobbie Ann Mason’s book, In Country: The Story of an American Family, Bobbie Ann Mason tells a coming of age story about Samantha Hughes who searches for understanding and meaning in a War that has affected her family and country greatly. Using dialogue and plot construction, Mason successfully examines the changes in morality towards violence and war.

Both In Country , by Bobbie Ann Mason and “On the Rainy River,” by Tim O’Brien share the theme of guilt; in O’Brien’s case, guilt meant his decision to fight in the war, Emmett’s guilt meant having survived through it and killing innocent people. Emmett’s guilt is more along the lines of survivor’s guilt, O’Brien’s is more about the decision he made to fight. With Tim O’Brien, going to war meant earning the respect of his family and friends. He describes his decision to go to war as “cowardly” because he went against his morals in order to please his family and his peers. Both characters are alike in that they hardly talk about their experiences in the war and try to avoid the subject all together. Emmett does not want to talk about the war at all with the people who were not there. He wants to sweep the past under the rug, he suffers from survivor’s guilt from seeing his fellow soldiers killed and is ashamed of having killed others. Emmett even admits to his survivor’s guilt, “Emmett said they were embarrassed that they were still alive” (Mason 67). ,Emmett would rather have died because the pain he experiences after the war were too much to handle. Both O’Brien and Emmett share this guilt, the biggest guilt being that they killed innocent people. They went to war as young kids, they give the impression that the war almost ruined their lives and never got their life back. The war did not end when they left Vietnam, the war stayed with them for even after they came home.

A small family of four, living in the Tory town of Redding. Life was great Mr. and Mrs. Meeker owned a small tavern that supplies their town with food, rum, and supplies. Their son Timmy helped around the tavern and did chores, because his older brother Sam was off at college. Everyone in Redding was close and knew the Meeker family, they all admired how they had raised Sam and Timmy. Every year after college was over, Sam would come home and visit, except one.