Again there are many casualties following the battle and Charlie believes he is one of them when he was told he was shot in the shoulder. When the doctor examined him Charley appeared not to be wounded, it was blood from another soldier on his uniform. He was sent back to war. The next battle is the momentous Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 where his regiment is sent forward to charge the Confederacy. Charley is hit by enemy blows and begins to think he is dying by a “red veil” that is cast over his eyes.
During the Civil War war tactics were not very good. Basically the way they fought was two armies of men in a field shooting at each other without much cover. This affected Charley because it put him in more danger which increased his fear level dramatically. In one battle Charley and the men he was with walked out into an open field and fired at Rebel soldiers hiding in the trees ahead of them.
The main idea of the story was that Charley, originally the drummer boy of the Union Army, got scared and deserted his regiment during his first fight with the Confederates. In the midpoint of the battle, he saw the man that looked after him, Jem, get shot and killed in the battle. Additionally, he sees his predecessor, Silas Gorman, needing his assistance after he receives a wound in the leg. Nonetheless, Charley runs away from the battle, making his way to the West. The desertion portion from the Union Army justifies the historical accuracy of the book, as there were multiple records of deserters from both sides of the war.
He realized he was lucky to live in a community without
The soldiers had been trained for an ideal war, and the one they were thrown into was far different. The once true ideals of the men were destroyed in the war, and eventually they like most men were killed. Men were like a number on the battlefield. People fought
He felt so bad and started to contemplate on what he was doing. That’s when he decided to change and to help the people who were still out
When everyone thinks about war they cannot picture in their mind what it would be like out on a battlefield with a bunch of good friends, fighting side by side. They cannot picture the horrible and nasty sights you will see on a battlefield of men dying, their bodies being shot everywhere or being blown to pieces. Maybe from a movie they might have seen a battle or war, but it’s not even close to the same. They are people that you care for and love that have just been killed, live and in front of your face. You cannot do anything but watch them suffer and try to keep fighting.
Flashbacks of him in the war, him seeing his friends being killed, him starving and having to fight and kill people. Instead of running and working and having a family, CHarley is alone by himself with no family, and no kids. He can’t run, because he has a limp and was hurt during the war. Charley is in pain and wants to die.
War causes anxiety on the battlefield and later in life. Myers showed that his novel has a message about anti-war through the hardships Richie Perry and his squad mates went through in the Vietnam
This all proves that Charley faced many horrors during his time of service. The war gives Charley a soldier’s heart. He shows this by not hesitating when he is told to kill, and, in close combat, he turns into a madman killing everything in range of his bayonet. He even builds a wall made entirely out of dead soldiers, just to block wind. He does not try to find a wife and build a family when he is twenty-one because of all he has seen, done and, experienced in the war.
War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead." (pg. 80). The effect of war on each soldier who fought in it was different and unique, and as a result, each soldier's experience with war has a different effect.
He got to see what happened to his stuff. He also got to see his grave. He got frightened and the spirit said that if he didn’t change his ways he would be like that. On that day he changed. He made a choice to change himself for the better.
This happy outlook on the war was mainly due to the fact of the overseas setting, in which it never took place in America, the media and Hollywood’s glamorization of the war,
Samuel Clemens analyzes how war is portrayed as an organized event due to the deficiency of information whereas Wilfred Owen examines the chaos that one is divulged to on the battlefront. Samuel Clemens’ community celebrates the commencement of war with a parade that is dedicated to the volunteers. With fireworks in the distance and toy pistols firing, “the young volunteers march down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms” (Twain). The “young” soldiers illustrate the average age of those who chose to participate in the war. Although they have heard an insufficient amount of information, they are nonetheless eager to fight.
From then on he knew that it wasn 't goin got be easy and he knew he was going to have to take risks that can go down and fail or succeed.
