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Summary Of My Brother Sam Is Dead

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The Reality of War War will divide and kill members of a family, as a result of their difference in opinions. In My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James and Christopher Collier, Tim is a victim of this devastating fate. Tim’s father, Life, is loyal to the king because he is scared of losing his family and business. Sam opposes Life because he is a stubborn Patriot, yearning for freedom from the king and his taxes; Sam also yearns for the freedom to speak his opinion, choose his religion, and assemble when he wishes. Tim is in between their fighting confounded on which side to choose, which leads to his final decision. Tim’s ultimate decision is neutrality, due to the ironically tragic deaths of loved ones such as his best friend Jerry, his father …show more content…

He died of Cholera after catching the sickness from another prisoner, then his body was dropped into the ocean with weights so his mother could not bury him. Jerry was innocently captured after Redding was attacked by British soldiers: “‘They let most of us go. They only kept three.’ ‘Is Jerry Sanford all right, sir?’ He shook his head. ‘They kept him. Don’t ask me why they kept a boy’” (148). By taking a child, the soldiers show fear and power to the Patriots. The irony is that the British would take a young boy instead of the adults that could fight in the war. Tim realizes that the Lobsterbacks will do whatever it takes to win the war, even if it comes to killing children instead of adults that will affect the result of the war. This showed Tim how war carelessly throws away lives just to show dominance, leading him to neutrality. Jerry was Tim’s best friend they would go fishing and hang out together when Tim heard Jerry had died he was devastated. Imagine your best friend, that you always hang out with, just one day disappears, that is what Tim is feeling after Jerry’s death. It was especially devastating that he was killed for such a horrible reason keeping him away from the Loyalist

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1281 Words | 6 Pages

My Brother Sam Is Dead Chapter 1: Page 1-22 Sam is Tim Meeker 's older brother. Tim always looks up to his older brother. Sam then comes home in a uniform at the tavern during April. He starts out by saying "We 've beaten the British in Massachusetts," which sparks up a fight between him and his father which is a loyalist (someone who respects the government and the king). Sam has a discussion with the guests at their tavern and his family on how the Minutemen had surprise attack on the "Lobster backs" (the British) in Lexington.

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417 Words | 2 Pages

MY BOOK PROJECT I read the book “My brother Sam is dead” that was wrote by the Author James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. It is a Historical Fiction book wrote during the American Revolutionary war. This book is about a boy named Timothy Meeker that lived in Connecticut. Tim's father is a Loyalist at great Britain but Sam (Tim’s older teenage brother) came home from Yale and announced that he joined the Continental Army to fight against the British. His Father was outraged and yelled and fought with him like they normally did and Sam ran away and hid in a little hut for a little while.

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571 Words | 3 Pages

He decided he would kill the guard and get the prisoners out of the encampment. Tim went to the guard, but before he could get there, the guard wakes wakes up, hold. The guard shouted pointing his Baronet at him. Tim’s screams for Sam and it throws father‘s brown vest over there and camp in the guard fires a shot and it skims Tim shoulder then Tim racist to the top of the rich once Tim gets the top with the ridge he realizes that the prisoners are no longer in the encampment. Tim shows a lot of braver.

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1366 Words | 6 Pages

Like any other war, much of the damage and casualties resulted from civilian deaths when the raging armies swept through the colonies. The Loyalists- those who supported Great Britain and King George- and the Patriots- those who supported the principles of freedom and independence- alike were both hurt, killed, imprisoned, or otherwise dragged into the war, even when they did not join the army for either side. The Collier brothers use various instances of deaths throughout the storyline of My Brother Sam is Dead to show how the injustices and violences of war inherently manifest themselves. The irony of Jerry Sanford, Eliphalet Meeker, and Samuel Meeker’s deaths ultimately induce Tim to make the decision to remain neutral for the duration of the American Revolution.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

Tim would have expected Life to be the most safe one of their family due to his loyalty to Britain, but he was captured anyway. The death of Life Meeker makes Tim develop a strong hatred toward the Loyalists due to the fact that they do not value loyalty or care about the innocent, such as this instance. Tis develops Tim’s final decision of neutrality is influenced by Jerry’s death because both the British and Patriots caused the death of the ones he cared most

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844 Words | 4 Pages

The majority of people during the American Revolution fought for liberty without realizing the actual cost and brutal reality of war. In the novel My Brother Sam is Dead, the Meeker family consisting of a Father name Life, a Mother named Susannah, a rebellious teen named Sam, and a conflicted teen named Tim, journey through the life of colonists owning a tavern during the Revolutionary War. Sam departs from his family to fight alongside the Patriots going against his Father, a Tory. War brings a lot of terrible things, but some examples are families splitting, clash of generation, and an overall theme of principle vs reality. The soldiers who fought in the war thought they were fighting for liberty, when really they caused havoc and awfulness.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

Isaac Eis 1 Mrs. Justus English 7 5/23/24 My Brother Sam Is Dead “War is like a giant machine that no one really knows how to run and when it gets out of control and when it gets out of control it eats everything in its path.” by James Lincoln Collier.

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839 Words | 4 Pages

If he does not conform, he will lose everything including his personal beliefs, on the contrary, if he does conform he risks his life. Conforming in any way, shape or form has consequences, usually ending with losing something. Tim realizes this when he has to chose between himself and others. This could also be a form of peer pressure. Tim has a desire to live a normal life; work and play, a family someday,

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721 Words | 3 Pages

When Tim first got the draft letter in the mail he was unsure of what to think and thought “[he] was too good for this war”(P.39), so fleeing to the Rainy River would give him a break to truly listen and connect with his body and make a decision. Although there was a moment in the story when he wanted to go to Canada and be able to see freedom for the first time in a long time it also “separated one life from another. ”(P.45) The separation between his two lives was the breaking points the made him realize what his choice had to be; however, he didn't fully understand what his choice was until he was on the boat with Elroy Berdahl, the owner. Without Elroy having to say anything he realized that going to fight in the war would be the best thing for himself and everyone around him, as a result, that was how he was influenced to go to the war instead of

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1184 Words | 5 Pages

In “On the Rainy River” Tim struggles to make a decision on whether he should fight for his country in the war or flee to Canada. Tim did not believe in the war. He was an innocent young man, freshly graduated from college with a naive view of the world. “Both my conscience and my instincts were telling me to make a break for it, just take off and run like hell and never stop.” (Page 3/Paragraph 8)

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523 Words | 3 Pages

There was there mom and she didn’t care for the war at all, she thought it turned men into animals and she was right they would steal, most men would do anything for clothes or food. She didn’t want her two sons involved with the war any, Not delivering letters or even looking out the window to see the colonist or tories. First things first Life was right obviously becauses bad things happened to sam and if he wouldn’t have gotten involved with the war. Sam joins the Colonist army and Life wasn’t having that he didn’t want sam

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916 Words | 4 Pages

Tim’s expectations were not the case; instead Sam dies by being accused incorrectly of stealing his own cattle to teach other troops a lesson about how serious war is. The unecessary death of Sam inspires Tim to go neutral because Sam was not rewarded for valor and had no glory to his name. Tim doesn’t like that or want that so he chooses neither side of the

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408 Words | 2 Pages

Life and Sam was father and son but Sam was colonist and life was more neutral. Life actually was more on the loyalist side, but wouldn't admit that because of same. Life was right for doing what he did. Sam choose the wrong thing to do. Sam had bad things happen to him.

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672 Words | 3 Pages

There was no sense of morality or politics or duty. Tim completed what he was trained to do, and that was to defend the camp against the enemy. The lone soldier was the enemy. Later Tim views his actions as impulsive and regrets throwing the grenade, despite his peers’ support. Tim declares, “Sometimes I forgive myself, sometimes I don’t.

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1756 Words | 8 Pages

I went to the war.” (last paragraph 58) This helps us understand that going to war was not an accomplishment for Tim. He regretted not running away and hated that he went.

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