What does the Union assault scene at the beginning of the movie tell you about the ferocity of modern combat during the Civil War? War during the time period of the American Civil War was particularly brutal. When the union soldiers attempt to attack the entrenched confederate soldiers they try tunneling beneath them to detonate several kegs of gunpowder. When the actual assault begins, Inman is witness to one of his fellow soldiers being stabbed fatally with a bayonet. Though it is fatal it is neither swift nor painless from what is portrayed. Inman takes this soldier to the field hospital, though hospital is a strong word when compared to what a modern hospital is, he dies anyway as his wound is beyond the ability of the doctors there to treat. The following night Inman is once again sent to battle union troops. …show more content…
Do you feel sorry for him or does he get what he deserves? What does it tell you about how upper class southerners treated slaves? The preacher is the least sympathetic character in the entire story. He literally has no redeeming value as a human being, though he does provide value as a plot device. We first meet him when he is trying to kill a woman he has gotten pregnant. As the woman is a slave it is pretty much assured she is pregnant because the preacher had been raping her. He actually deserves much more than he actually got. He is the lowest of the low, a hypocritical preacher who has no doubt used religion to justify his evil actions. He is a prime example of the upper crust of southern society abusing slaves. He was using a woman basically as his rape puppet, when she got pregnant he was going to kill her. He life had no value to him nor did the unborn child she carried. Slaves were nothing more than cheap property to upper class southerners. Was Monroe overall a good father to Ada? In what ways did he fail her and in what ways did he contribute to her strength of character? In what ways did he deceive