Many people wonder if war is a necessary evil. War can end injustice and brutality. It can lead to freedom and liberty, and ensure the safety of future generations. However, war also costs lives, and it leads to brutality. War can tear apart families, and cause pain and suffering. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, the main character, Tim Meeker, has to weigh these factors and choose what side he is on. Throughout the book, he is indecisive, and constantly debates which side he should choose. By the end of the book, Tim decides to become neutral after seeing and experiencing the deaths of Ned, Life Meeker, and Sam Meeker. Ned was a slave owned by a man named Samuel Smith. Ned was a minor character, but his death was significant, and it led to Tim becoming neutral. In chapter ten, the British had marched into Redding to detain the Patriots. While attacking Captain Starr’s house, Tim witnessed something brutal and traumatizing: “He [the british soldier] slid his sword into Ned’s stomach, and then jerked it free. Ned staggered around, still raising his gun up for the shot. The sword flashed in a bright arc, the fastest thing I ever saw move. Ned’s head jumped off his body and popped into the air,”(144-145). Ned’s death is barbaric, but also ironic. Although Ned was holding a gun and was going to shoot the British soldiers, he was doing it for self-defense. The British soldiers were being racist and unjust towards the slaves. The slaves had not done anything to provoke the