”Listen. We have to stay together. We have to try to keep each other safe. We are brothers, we are family” (95). With Jacob's words to Norman, after being beaten, we are shown in Sharon E. Mckay’s War Brothers, that war can solidify friendly relationships into a sense of family. Set in Gulu, Uganda Jacob, Paul, and Tony are excited to start a new year at George Jones Seminary for Boys. But that ends when they are awakened by gunshots, and forced to be soldiers by the LRA. However, these boys will do anything to protect their comrades, their family. Mckay uses the title War Brothers to reveal the forged through wars. The development of the relationship between Jacob and Norman shows us that family is more than who you’re related to. Family are those who can be trusted to stand by each other no matter the consequences. When Jacob and Norman first meet, they are as far from brothers as one could be. The excitement of beginning a new year wears off shortly after hearing about the object of his burden:“Jacob rolled his eyes. Not only was Norman twelve years old, but he was a short twelve year old” (52). Jacob is sizing Norman up, and developing an opinion, negative at the moment, will evolve and reform over time. He feels threatened by this new …show more content…
Indeed, Jacob’s relationship with Norman changes due to their experience with the LRA, and demonstrated through this relationship: true loyalty is expressed by those who care about each other, which means that those who care about each other that much, they are genuinely family. And though they lost hope, lost friends, and lost a part of themselves in the jungle, they gained family within friends and a sense of stability from their newfound status amongst each other. In Sharon E. Mckay's novel, War Brothers, family is key to survival and family can be established through even the most terrible of