Gun shots pierce the air, the smell of blood and
decaying bodies filter the surrounding area. Many families mourn over their
losses, and no one can shake the feeling of fear and regret. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher
Collier, the author brings forth a new side to the Revolutionary War and what
went on to the people who weren’t fighting. Many families stayed at home and
tried to continue on with their normal lives, even though they didn’t know if
their loved ones were still alive. This novel provides a good example of what
families during the Revolutionary War went through and how they dealt with
their situations.
Although a lot of families faced similar obstacles, some families
dealt with them differently. There were some families that wanted their kid to
fight for freedom, others who wanted to stay loyal to the king, and then there
were some who just wanted to stay out of everything. In the book the
oldest brother, Sam, decides he wants to
help fight for America, but when he tells his father, who wants to stay loyal
to the king, an argument quickly forms. These kinds of arguments were common
between families during this time period since it could’ve meant a matter of life
or death for their loved ones.
While there were some big decisions that
had to be made, there were also miner choices people during this time period
had to face. Money issues affected a lot of families during the Revolutionary
War since the cost of taxes had risen and a lot of money was being spent on war
supplies. Lots of businesses had to make important decisions to be able to keep
their business running smoothly and to avoid being in debt. In the book, the
main character, Timmy, and his mother are put in charge of running their
tavern. In the story Timmy admits that his family wasn’t doing too well with
money by saying “Our money situation isn’t good since the cost of rum keeps getting
higher.”(page 102) Also, in the book
Timmy and his family struggle over the decision to use up their last cow, since
they are desperate for money. These characters, like original families during
the Revolutionary War, had to make lots of costly decisions to stay out of
debt.
Even though debt was a major struggle for a
lot of families, the loss of a loved one is truly the hardest obstacle to
overcome. During the Revolutionary War over forty thousand people died, which
means over forty thousand families had their world shattered. In My Brother
Sam is Dead both Sam and his father didn’t survive the end of the war, and Timmy
and his mother were devastated. They shut down their tavern and moved away
because they couldn’t handle living in their house any longer. This was common
with many families living in this time period. Emotionally they couldn’t handle
staying in the same house. Also, after losing a husband or son, who made most
of the living for the family, they couldn’t afford to stay in the same house. My
Brother Sam is Dead does a good job of describing what families went
through when getting over a loved one.
Not only did this book describe what
families during the American Revolution went through when getting over a loss,
but it also included how families at home were affected both money wise and decision
wise from the war. It provided a good understanding of what the families during
that time period went through and how they dealt with their situations. It’s a
hard topic to make the reader relate to, since it happened such a long time ago
and the lifestyle was very different back then. However, the author of this
book did a good job of including vivid descriptions of the gunshots, dead
bodies, mourning families, and all the gruesome factors that were a part of
this deadly war.
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