My Brother Sam Is Dead Analysis

The book My Brother Sam is Dead is written by the Collier brothers. It takes place during the American Revolutionary War. Tim Meeker is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Tim has an older brother named Sam Meeker, a father named Eliphalet(or Life)Meeker, and a mother named Susannah Meeker. When Sam comes back home from college to Redding, Connecticut. Sam says that he is a Patriot, and Father gets very mad. Father gets mad at Sam because Father is a Loyalist, and feels betrayed that Sam is a Patriot. Father was so angry, he kicked Sam out of the house. He did this by saying, “Go, Sam. Go. Get out of my sight. I can’t bare to look at you in that vile costume. Get out. And don’t come back until you come dressed as my son, not a stranger.”(pg.22) When Father says, “...don’t come back until you come dressed as my son, not a stranger.” I think it means that Father feels like Sam would never disagree with him about something like this, and so he feels betrayed. This is an example of how war is impacting Tim’s family. Tim’s family is now split into Patriots and Loyalists.

One way the authors argue against war is how they show examples of family division. A major conflict in the Meeker family was Mr. Meeker being loyal to the British King and Sam fighting as a patriot soldier in the war. This resulted in Tim being caught in the middle, questioning which side of the war he should support. Either choice, he decided, would be a disappointment to at least one of his family members. “...between worrying about that and being confused over which side was right I couldn’t concentrate on church much” (Collier and Collier 29). The tension between Mr.

Tim’s embarrassment manifests itself into a vision of people yelling at him, causing more embarrassment. Of course, they are not really there. However, this thorough description of people yelling at him, calling him a turncoat and a traitor causes the reader to understand the embarrassment he felt that made him go to

This shows that Tim is scared that his Father will get mad at Sam. This is all important because Tim as a Loyalist will change his relationship with Sam.

For an example, Sam is a scapegoat and is publicly executed for stealing his own cattle. Which is a very stupid reason to be executed. " He went on jerking with flames on his chest until another soldier shot him again, then he stopped jerking"(208). Tim expects that Sam will die, but in a glorious heroic manner after he single handedly vanquished the British army. Tim however does not expect Sam to die as a cattle thief and realizes the unjust and brutal ways of the war. Tim becomes neutral because Tim does not want to support a side that killed his brother for no valid

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.

In this sense Tim feels very betrayed because his family and friend are

War could be good and bad--it just depends on the position of the person looking at it. Some says that war is positive since wars are often instruments used to voice people’s opinion, and it to preserve human dignity. On the other hand, there are many negative aspects of war: brutality, injustice, and lose of human life. In the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, the Collier brothers express their disapproval towards war by displaying the main character, Tim’s, life in the reality of the American Revolutionary War. Through many unexpected twist of events in Tim’s life, the ironic death of Jerry Sanford, Life Meeker, and Sam Meeker convinced Tim to stay neutral at the end of the book.

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.

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

War has been something that has existed since the most primitive eras. People selfishly fight just to get what they want, like political power or economic advantages. Events like World War 1, World War 2, and the Cold War have affected and changed our society in different ways, such as the creation of nuclear weapons, the murder of innocent people, the destruction of cities, etc. Even though war stories usually portray heroism and glory, war is not something to be glorified because it causes enormous human suffering, it creates a violent cycle that never stops and it frequently fails to resolve conflicts. War causes suffering and destruction to all the people who experience it, impacting not only the soldiers who directly fight in the war but

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.

War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a

Wars are often glorified in tone to give praise and respect for those on the battlefields. There is an overall understanding that there are sacrifices needed in order to accomplish a larger goal. Excluded from this understanding is the realization that the effects of war

Meanwhile, his two eldest sons, Gabriel and Thomas, can't wait to go out and kill some Redcoats. When South Carolina decides to go to war with Britain, Gabriel immediately joins the Continentals .without his father's permission. Ben,