ipl-logo

My Brother Sam Is Dead Character Analysis

691 Words3 Pages

Man’s Worst Angel
War is one of the most violent and primitive things ever done by man. In “My Brother Sam is Dead” by Collier and Collier, war is the focus point in the novel. The main characters consist of: Sam, Tim, and Mr.Meeker. Mr. Meeker is Sam and Tim’s father, and has certain views on politics that Sam doesn’t agree with, while Tim is unsure. Tim is torn between the gruesome realities of war and the fantasy of glory Sam is in love with. The reality of war is vain in many ways.
War is unfair. It is a terrible reality that is faced in almost all lives. In the novel there are many points of unfairness, but a few stand out. Sam’s death is the most unjust circumstance in the book. He is with his mother and brother when cattle thieves butcher their beef. Then they framed Sam, “ You see what the problem is, Tim. Those two men who brought him in have sworn it was Sam who stole the animals.“(Collier and Collier 188) They accused him, his own army, of stealing his cattle and got executed without a fair trial. He was shot three times in front of his brother and all the people who came to the execution. As well as Sam’s death there was his Father’s …show more content…

Both sides are disgusting, both sides are flawed. The British killed little Jerry Sanford, and poor Ned the slave. The Patriots killed Sam and Life. They are all terrible deaths, but those who watched them die truly know the gruesome truth of war. “Have you ever looked into the eyes of a man with his throat cut and the blood pouring out between his fingers…” a quote from Mr.Meeker (Collier and Collier 21). Tim knows, he lost half of his small family because of it. The men who lose limbs or are injured badly are reminded of how painful and vile it was every day of their lives. The men who survive have no shoes or food, and travel in the snow and mud of the winter. These men fight for glory, but dying are for food, they now know the true reality of

Show More
Related

My Brother Sam Is Dead Chapter 1 Summary

1281 Words | 6 Pages

During November the father usually goes out with Sam to trade supplies for the tavern, and although the father was a bit unsure at first (because of the weather and Tim being too young) he decided to make the trip. On the harsh trip they are stopped by cow-boys that wanted to take the fathers cattle. They argue for a long while and even point their pistols at Tim’s father until they are scared off by loyalists that then escort them to their relives

Read More

All Quiet On The Western Front Rhetorical Analysis Essay

403 Words | 2 Pages

War is a harsh reality that is inflicted upon the unwilling through the “need” of it’s predecessors and those whom wish it. All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about 19 year old Paul and his friends in the “Second Company”. Even though they are just out of school age, they have already seen things that many could not bear to even think about. Eventually, all of his friends die, and even Paul too, dies. Remarque uses diction and syntax as literary devices to express his anti-war theme, or lesson.

Read More

Compare And Contrast My Brother Sam Is Dead

643 Words | 3 Pages

Should I fight or not? In this essay, I will be comparing and contrasting the setting: time and place and the conflicts found in My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier with Two Kinds of Patriots by Lucy Jane Bledsoe. On this occasion, My Brother Sam is Dead is about a young man named Samuel Meeker. Sam wanted to be in the Revolutionary War.

Read More

Character Analysis: My Brother Sam Is Dead

466 Words | 2 Pages

My Brother Sam is Dead Sam and his father were very different in terms of how they wanted their country to be ran. Sam was a Patriot and his father was a Loyalist. A Patriot (also known as rebels in the book) were the colonist fighting against Britain for freedom. A Patriot wanted to be free to run their own government how they wanted. They didn't want to be under the rule of a king or queen.

Read More

My Brother Sam Is Dead Sparknotes

458 Words | 2 Pages

Sam is on Ptriot’s side, he is a soldier in Rebel army. Sam’s father, Mr. Meeker is on the opposite side of Sam. He is a Tory, but he is against the war. The war is horrible. War is bad, it tears families apart, families broken because of war.

Read More

The Ghost Soldiers Tim O Brien Character Analysis Essay

844 Words | 4 Pages

This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.

Read More

My Brother Sam Is Dead Quotes

414 Words | 2 Pages

Tim also thinks that Sam is lucky getting all of the glory from going to war and telling points.

Read More

Essay On My Brother Sam Is Dead

910 Words | 4 Pages

Some people still wonder if war can be justified by its principles or cause. It can be argued that war can be justified due to the principles of freedom and justice that soldiers are willing to die for. However, many argue against this saying that war should be avoided at all costs due to collateral damage and the massive loss of innocent life. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, Tim faces the biggest dilemma of his life when he has to decide whether to side with his brother who believes in the principles of war or his father who believes war should be avoided at all costs. When the novel comes to a conclusion, Tim decides that he is neutral and does not agree to either argument due to the irony contained within the deaths of

Read More

Themes In My Brother Sam Is Dead

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.

Read More

My Brother Sam Is Dead By John Collier

1024 Words | 5 Pages

Against The War 1775 “Have you ever seen a dear friend lying in the grass with the top of his skull off and his brains sliding out of them like wet oats?,” The authors of the book “My Brother Sam Is Dead” believe that they are against war. They clearly state reasons why they are against war. The book shows how war divides loyalties within a family. It also shows how war cause huge arguments of generation and the principles versus reality as well. In this book, although both sides of the war are shown, author's Collier and Collier ultimately argue that war is futile.

Read More

Neutrality In 'My Brother Sam Is Dead'

921 Words | 4 Pages

War is a conflictive topic because it can be both positive and negative depending on the situation. For example, during the American Revolution, Americans fought a war with Great Britain to gain their independence and freedom. On the other hand, many innocent people were killed because the dead pay the living’s debts. In the novel My Brother Sam is Dead, Tim has to make a decision about which side he believes is right, leaving him caught between his brother and his father. However, in the end, Tim chooses neutrality based on the injustices of Jerry, Sam, and Life’s deaths.

Read More

A Long Way Gone Literary Analysis Essay

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.

Read More

Robert Ross Innocence In Timothy Findley's The Wars

1917 Words | 8 Pages

The Death Of Robert Ross’ Innocence The outcomes of war can sometimes be even worse that the fight itself. Psychological trauma that comes as a result of the events in war changes and forms a person. War is experienced physically and mentally, forcing soldiers to question basic values and beliefs.

Read More

Mark Twain's Essay: The War Prayer

528 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout human history, war has been a common solution to settle conflict or disagreements between people. War has and will always be apart of this world, because no matter how much death it causes humans will never change. Some people have come to see the idiocy in war and have even written about it in poems, short stories, etc. One of these people, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, has mocked this absurd and pointless practice. Twain’s essay The War Prayer satirizes the customs of praying for safety and victory in war and for equating war with patriotism.

Read More

Theme Of War In Liam O 'Faherty's The Sniper'

1116 Words | 5 Pages

In Liam O’Flaherty’s The Sniper, the main character, a sniper, is in the middle of a civil war in Dublin, Ireland. It is his assigned duty to assassinate anyone on the the other side of the war, no matter who they are. This creates a huge conflict, considering that the sniper ends up killing his brother. This supports the central theme that war is cruel, and this can be supported by the craft elements of the dialogue used and the setting of the story.

Read More

More about My Brother Sam Is Dead Character Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document