Private Peaceful
How far would you go to protect someone you loved? Would you put your life on the line for them? In the book, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, it tells the story of Thomas (Tommo) Peaceful and his experience during WWI. Charlie, Tommo’s older brother, joins the war alongside Tommo. Charlie throughout the novel has protected Tommo from everything. During grade school, hardships, and the war, Charlie has always stuck by Tommo’s side. All through the novel, it shows the sacrifices the characters make in order to stay with each other. Charlie has sacrificed some of his belongings and even his own life in order to protect his brother from the injustices of war.
The first sacrifice Charlie made would be when he gifted Tommo
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Tommo had gotten hit by enemy fire. Charlie found him on the verge of death and carried him to where the rest of their regiment lay. Sergeant Hanley wanted to move their troops back to their dugout. This was a very risky move that Charlie and the others didn’t agree with nor want to participate in. “And I’m telling you, Peaceful, that if you don’t come with us when we go, it won’t be just field punishment again. It’ll be a court martial for you. It’ll be a firing squad. Do you hear me, Peaceful? Do you hear me?’ ‘Yes, Sergeant,’ says Charlie. ‘I hear you. But the thing is, Sergeant, even if I wanted to, I can’t go with you because I’d have to leave Tommo behind, and I can’t do that....” (Morpurgo 181) This shows that even though staying with Tommo meant he would be seen with a firing squad, Charlie would never leave his brother’s side. Sergeant Hanley, too, stuck to his word. After the regiment left without the Peaceful brothers, Hanley called in the situation just before being shot in battle. So instead of Charlie being praised like a hero for saving his brother, a wounded soldier, he was villainized for not following orders. The court decided that Charlie was guilty in less than an hour. The following day his life was ended by the hands of a firing squad. Charlie’s deepest value was to protect the ones he loved the most and he did so by saving Tommo instead of