The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is not just a telling of the Battles of Gettysburg, but includes fictional accounts on a real event. It takes you back in time to some of the bloodiest battles in our nation’s history, where one side fought for freedom, and the other fought for a new way of life. The novel takes you on a journey through the eyes of various leaders from the Union and Confederate sides, including Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Arthur Fremantle, John Buford, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. The book includes the four days both leading to and including the most courageous and nation changing battles of America’s history. I would recommend this book to all high school readers and any readers who have a desire to read a …show more content…
Shaara does an excellent job of bringing the fact that these people were real into perception, and had to go through outstanding difficulties. They had to make decisions that would make their goals into a reality, and with that came casualties. Shaara also spends a perfect amount of time explaining each person in the story, and then includes what occurred in their past to make them have the beliefs they fight for in the war. The Killer Angels doesn’t only focus on the physicality of the war, but the mental and emotional factors that all participants had to deal with. It allowed the reader to understand why each person was on the side they were on, despite the reader’s personal opinion of what was the right side. It truly brings the fact that these events and people were real into perspective, and that these people were not just pawns in the war but had families and people who cared for them at home. They had problems every person has, but also had a war they had to fight for. The Killer Angels shows the difficult aspects of imposing morals, especially when it was between former friends and even family members. The war had many effects on American society, including relationships being destroyed. The author really makes the reader understand the reality of the Civil War, and how it was not just about the physical
The Killer Angels is a very interesting and intriguing novel about The Civil War and gives us day by day actions through out it all. That is what really interested me in the way this book was set up. Every day, there was a diary from different characters. Because of this, we get to see different views from different characters and how each one of them have their own stories in the war and how they got through the war. At the very beginning of the story, we meet a spy named Harrison, who loves his Shakespeare. He sees that the Union Army is coming, because he sees about twenty thousand men all at once. He is so scared and surprises and runs to tell the two generals, General Longstreet and General Lee. This is our introduction to the character I will talk about
1. What is the spy's usual occupation before the war? The spy was an actor.
“Fallen Angels”, written by Walter Dean Myers, is a novel that tells about the story of young boys going into battle during the Vietnam War. There are many themes in “Fallen Angels” but the main theme is the loss of innocence. The title makes reference to these themes. And the boys in the book have dreams of losing their virginity and drinking alcohol for the first time. They are thrown into a harsh reality when they are shown the trials of war. In the end, they understand that the movies that depict heroicness and honor are just images of a false idea; that war is full of chaos and horror.
The killer angels is a world acclaimed novel that was written by an author known as Michael Shaara. In the year 1975, it was granted the Pulitzer Prize for creative writing. It gives us in details the occurrences of the four days in the Battle of Gettysburg. This was during the American Civil War that occurred in the year 1863. At this time, troops that comprised of both the Union and Confederacy were at war in town called Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. This is a piece of story that is driven by disposition and narrated from the point of view of various heroes (Hartwig, 1996).
In a letter to the reader, Michael Shaara states that his purpose is similar to Stephen Crane's in The Red Badge of Courage. He wishes to display history not as cold facts, but rather in such a way that the reader can live the history. This is to be accomplished through extensive detail of the emotions of the men, the atmosphere of the battle, and strategies of the commanding officers. Accepting this as Shaara's intent, it can be justifiably stated that he succeeds in his objective. The Killer Angels does not merely relate what assaults and defenses where made by which colonels and generals. Instead, the book delves into the emotions of the major figures of the battle and what they endured physically and mentally as they planned for
Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is
The Battle of Gettysburg brought the dueling North and South together to the small town of Gettysburg and on the threshold of splitting the Union. Gettysburg was as close as the United States got to Armageddon and The Killer Angels gives the full day-to-day account of the battle that shaped America’s future. Michael Shaara tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the generals and men involved in the action of the battle. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg gives the reader a chance to experience the battle personally and not the history book manner taught in schools. A historical novel gives the facts straightforward and provides no commentary by the people involved in history. The
The Killer Angels is a stunning recollection of the telltale battle of the Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg. Set from June 29 to July 3, 1863 and told from the vantage points of several soldiers and commanding officers from both sides, including Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain, Michael Shaara effectively paints a picture of the war that divided America, from the tactical planning to the emotional hardships
Honor played a major role in novel, Killer Angels. Throughout the book, Honor was a concept that remained important to members of the armies, regardless of whether they were supporting the Union or the Confederacy. Every action and decision was made with the intention of being heroic and as honorable as possible.
Killer Angels is a 1974 historical novel by Michael Shaara. The book tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. The novel is told through the voices of both Union army and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia leaders who were in battle there. The novel is laid out in days and each new chapter for the day gives a number and the name of the man who is the focus of the chapter. In Killer Angels, the Army of Northern Virginia’s demise is highlighted by a few different features. The failing health and age of Robert E. Lee served to distract him from military obligations, the advantage point the Union side had over Confederate Army at the Battle of Gettysburg, and the most significant reason for demise, was the
The pain, joy, bloodshed, death, and sorrow of the Civil War are all contained in the book called, "The Killer Angels." This book will show you the thoughts, feelings and actions of many of the leaders of both armies. By reading this book you will get an in depth view of the bloodiest days of the Civil War. Even if you know absolutely nothing about this war, you can still read and understand everything that is portrayed. This story not only gives you the view of many of the major leaders, but it also gives you the maps an strategies used in this war. It also shows you the conflicts in making these strategies. This book has inspired many, but the true question is will it inspire you? Reading this book will cause
1. Were soldiers religious? What did they think about God? What sorts of religious viewpoints do we see in this book?
The Killer Angels is an historical novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. The book captures the human nature of many historical figures over three fateful days in rural Pennsylvania in 1863. North and South, Yankee and Confederate; The Killer Angels provides a glimpse into the hearts and souls of some of the men who fought in this infamous battle and their own reasons for being in a fight to the death against their fellow countrymen.
The book The Killer Angels was published in 1975 by the Ballatine Booksand was written by Michael Shaara. The Killer Angels is a historic novel about the time of the American Civil War, more specifically The Battle of Gettysburg. Shaara wrote this historical masterpiece with the sole purpose of letting the reader know exactly how the war was for the men actually putting their lives on the line to get this great country of America to the stature it is today. In order to accomplish his goal of creating the ultimate historic journal of The Battle of Gettysburg, he went straight to the source. He went back and retrieved letters and documents written by the men themselves, who were I the war. What better way to tell a story about one of the most significant battles of American history, then getting the information straight from the warriors who were fighting in the tranches? The book is written from the viewpoints of Robert Edward Lee, James Longstreet, and a couple of other men who were in the war. Robert E. Lee was fifty-seven at the time of the war. He was a highly respected general of the Confederate Army. He was an honest, God following man who had great morals which made a great leader (Killer Angles XVI). He didn’t drink or smoke and would stay away from reading novels and plays because he felt it would make him weak minded for battle (Killer Angles XVI). This is what made him such a great leader, the fact that he lead by example of how a true gentleman and general should
The Battle of Gettysburg was amongst one the most important turning points during the Civil War. It was a three-day bloody battle between the Union and Confederate forces which would ultimately lead up to the victory of the Union. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara shows a depiction of the battle through the eyes of the officers and tries to give the reader a first-hand look into the daily struggles that they had to deal with when it came to distinguishing between what’s best for their men and chances of success in the battle. In the book, we are introduced with two important officers: Colonel Chamberlain of the Union force, and General Lee of the Confederate force. Throughout the book, we witness different leadership strategies and philosophies between both officers which ultimately serve as their road to success or failure in the battle. Focusing on General Lee’s philosophy on leadership, “To be a good soldier, you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”, it reinforces the idea that in order to fully succeed at battle, you must set aside and sacrifice your sense of sympathy towards your soldiers as a way to avoid making emotional decisions.