My Brother Sam Is Dead Analysis

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War has been so widespread for years that no one really thinks of how bad some are affected by it. Wars have affected the lives of many in a negative way not only today, but also in the past. Many poor and innocent people have been killed, when they have done nothing wrong. Children have gone parentless and parents have lost their children. Still, this has not stopped troops from brutally slaying families around the world. Over the years, many wars occurred due to disagreements and in My Brother Sam is Dead, the authors agree that there are better ways to solve arguments. One way the authors argue against war is the fact that it gradually tore the Meeker family apart. To begin with, they were all raised as a Tory family. When Sam got to…show more content…
An example of this would be the kidnapping, and death of Mr. Meeker. “He’d been sent to a prison ship in New York. There was one funny thing about it, though- it wasn’t a Rebel prison ship, it was a British one,” (Collier and Collier 164). Mr. Meeker was taken by cowboys that claimed to be Patriots. Yet, he died on a British prison ship, even though he was a Tory. He had done nothing wrong to anyone, but still his life was taken. An additional example of this would be when Tim watched a slave named Ned get beheaded. “The sword flashed in an arc, the fastest thing I ever saw move. Ned’s head jumped off his body and popped into the air. I saw it fall,” (Collier and Collier 145). Ned was not only grossly murdered but also all the others in the household. Lastly, Sam was executed for a crime that he did not commit. He was accused for stealing his own cattle, even though he was really chasing the men that did it. “Timmy get Colonel Parsons,’ Sam cried, “they're taking me in as a cattle thief,” (Collier and Collier 181). Since, the general wanted to make an example of someone, Sam was not given a fair trial and was mercilessly killed. War was causing the lives of so many innocent individuals. However, wasted lives was not the only thing that war…show more content…
To begin with, Betsy Read attacked Tim on his way to deliver a letter. She thought that the message inside might have been a spy report that could end up getting Sam killed. “Then she jumped me. She caught me completely by surprise. She just leaped onto me and I fell down backwards and she was lying on top of me, trying to wrestle her hands down inside of my shirt,” (Collier and Collier 83). Betsy was so deeply concerned about the message that she beat up Tim to read what was inside. Another example of neighborhood troubles was when Tim and his father ran into cowboys on their trip to Verplancks Point. “Jesus,’ the cow-boy said, ‘all right if you don’t want to get down from the horse, we’ll know you off it,” (Collier and Collier 96). These cowboys wanted to make sure that the cattle Mr. Meeker and Tim were selling weren't going to be sold to the British. The way they thought would solve this problem would be to steal the cattle and possibly even kill Tim and his father. One last example to consider was when a man riding on his horse was shot, and almost killed. “The man was lying on his stomach with his face turned sideways. There was a tear in his shirt in the center of his back and blood was soaking through the cloth, but sweat was running off his pale face and he was breathing hard,” (Collier and Collier 142). This poor innocent man was simply riding his horse when a few British troops

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My Brother Sam Is Dead Analysis