In the book,My Brother Sam is Dead, there are two main people with opposite views on the revolutionary war. Tim, Sams brother, and their father Life. Sam has decided to fight for the American army, but his tory father disapproves. Life has had experience with war and has an idea of what will happen. In his mind the outlook is a dead son, a huge debt, and a lot of tears. Which is basically what a loyalist would think about the revolutionary war. Sam is fighting to be a free country, an optimistic idea that they could beat the strongest army of the time. In theory, Life had the right argument, as well as the outlook on war.
First of all, Life knows that war causes death and changes people. He has seen things most people can not imagine. Add when Life tries to help Sam understand, an argument is made. Life told Sam, “...But I know war. 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? Have you ever looked into the eyes of a man with his throat cut and the blood pouring
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He had plans for Sam that would not happen if Sam died. Life wanted sam to be well educated and put himself to a good use. Because Sam is off to college, it is already difficult to run the tavern (the family business). And when life goes away for while, Tim is left to do all the work. “...The work worried me alright. there was so much to do-old Pru and the chickens and the sheep to take care of and the spring, planting corn and greens we needed for the tavern, and the cleaning and the cooking. And of course somebody had to be at the tap all the time to draw beer and serve the meals…” (page 128) With the war already happening things were much more busy and there were many more jobs to do. It would be more helpful of sam if he came to help at the tavern. He even could have stayed in college and advanced his study to improve his