April Morning Character Analysis

A Dynamic War Hero Boom! Everyone is looking around wondering where the shot came from, not knowing what to do, the militiamen and the British Army starting flinging bullets across the field at each other. This book April Morning is a novel by Howard Fast and it takes place during the first shots of the Revolutionary war. It comes from the perspective of a 15-year-old protagonist named Adam Cooper at the battles of Lexington and Concord. In the course of two days, He meets a variety of interesting characters both before the battle has started and during the battle and one character that really stuck out was Solomon Chandler. Solomon was a very interesting character from the beginning, at first he came off as a confident man and we find out

Moments later we find out he is another militiaman fighting the same battle that Adam is fighting. Now we start to think of him differently, more as a confident person, as seen by “Excitement is a bad state for the body” (Fast 113). He knows what is good for a body in this kind of situation, so from that we begin to know that he has been in this type of situation before. He sees that there is a two on two against them and the British redcoats. He wants to fight, because he knows that they have an even chance, as said by “… a gun is a commoner, an equalizer, believe me” (Fast 114). Again, he knows what is good for you in a situation and is confident with the answer he gives you, because he knows that it is right, as said by “… There is not any fear that can’t be faced and dealt with. Make yourself compatible with it, and it shrivels…” (Fast 122). Howard Fast tried to make it seem as though Solomon went through, as making Solomon quote “Let the tears run freely. Grief should not be denied” (115). Solomon is a self-assured man that faces the challenges and has the wisdom to know what to do in any situation in a

He fought beside the redcoats in that war. He knows there tactics/strategies and knows how to counteract them. In the last war Solomon was in the redcoats called the Americans “Yankees” in this war but when the Americans helped in the last war they were called by a different name, as stated by “Then they called us gillies, which a scot word for peasant” (Fast 122). Solomon has the skill to lead soldiers effectively into battle and that he knows the factors of war. Howard Fast proves that by Solomon stating, “You answer that son, A musket gun carries a hundred paces. A rifle carries four hundred paces. That calls for two different kinds of tactics entirely” (138). Solomon is also very confident in his ability to lead, because he acts like he has already won with this bold of a statement, “…the redcoats danced, didn’t they, and now they have to pay the piper…” (Fast