Premium Essay

My Brother Sam Is Dead Themes

Submitted By
Words 868
Pages 4
Does it disgust you that some find war enjoyable or exciting? Do you feel it is important to obey and listen to your parents? They may know more than you care to admit. War brings on hard times for all members of a family, and It can lead to massive arguments between the members of a family. It is important to obey your parents because they are looking out for you have your best interest in mind. Nothing about war is exciting. It brings devastation upon the population. The story My Brother Sam is Dead shows what the Meeker family has to go through in order to (hopefully) survive the war, and these themes are included throughout. There is nothing exciting about war. With war comes disease and famine, which then leads to death. This is heavily …show more content…
They know more, have a better thought process, and have experienced more than the child has. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, Sam goes against his father’s wishes and bad consequences result of his choice. “Father had never gone to college the way Sam had, but still I was pretty sure that he knew more than Sam. Father was grown up and maybe Sam thought he was grown up, too, but as far as I was concerned he was just my brother.” (9). This quote shows that Sam feels he is grown up and knows just as much as father does (despite only being sixteen). Mr. Meeker went to war just like Sam, but for a different reason. Mr. Meeker enlisted to help out his family, whereas Sam Meeker made a deal with his friends and is doing it with them. What frustrates his dad is that Sam is currently going to an exceptional college, and is willing to give that up in the blink of an eye to go and fight with his friends. Mr. Meeker never got that opportunity, and Sam is overlooking it. “‘Principle, Sam? You may know principle, Sam, but I know war. Have you ever seen a dear friend lying in the grass with the top of his skull off …’” (21). This quote shows that even though Sam feels he has a good reason to fight, he has not thought through all of the dangers of war. Sam is fighting because he strongly opposes the British ruling the colonists from thousands of miles away and taxing them. What Sam doesn’t realize is that with war comes poverty,

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

My Brother Sam Is Dead Analysis

...the theme in my brother sam is dead My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier is based on the revolutionary war. In the book the meeker family is in a middle of the war Tim is faced with a lot of challenges, his brother sam goes to war and won't come home tell the war is over father doesn't approve of Sam's decision because father is a loyalist. one of the major theme is that war is ugly and it changes people dramatically. In the book Sam comes how and says “We’ve beaten the British in Massachusetts.” (2) Father doesn't like the idea of Sam going to war and gets angry with him and said “ ...dont come back tell your dressed like my son, not as a stranger” (22) After Sam left he went to Tom Warrups and stayed...

Words: 299 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

James Lincoln Collier's My Brother Sam Is Dead

...My Brother Sam is Dead, written by James Lincoln Collier is a work of historical fiction based off of the American Revolution. This book is about a young boy named Tim Meeker who lives with his his parents who own a tavern who are Loyalists, and his Rebel brother Sam. When Sam returns home from Yale, he announces to his family that he wants to join the Continental Army, his father becomes furious, but Sam steals the family rifle, brown bess, and leaves to go to war. This novel is filled with many twists and turns, While Collier develops the theme of freedom and glory. Tim Meeker lives in a tavern with his family, who are Loyalists, but his brother, Sam, is a Patriot. When Sam wants to enlist in the war and fight for the Continental...

Words: 1439 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Decision In Philadelphia Summary

...Decision in Philadelphia was written by well-known authors Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. Christopher Collier was the headlining author of this book and also wrote the well know children’s book My Brother Sam is dead, which won the Newberry Honor book and was nominated for the National Book award in 1975. Collier was born in New York City on 1930 and worked with his brother James Lincoln Collier in numerous books that were published. Christopher also gained his PhD in history and now is a Professor of history at the University of Connecticut. Finally Collier is an official Connecticut State Historian. After knowing all of this background information about Professor Collier the reader should feel comfortable about reading this material for the reason that it is coming from a knowledgeable source....

Words: 1511 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Character Analysis: My Brother Sam Is Dead

...My Brother Sam Is Dead As we all know Sam Meeker is a Patriot and his father “Life” Meeker is a Loyalist. There are many differences between the Patriots and the Loyalist. Patriots wanted American colonies to have independence from Britain, Loyalist on the other hand wanted to stay part of Britain and remain loyal to the king.In my brother Sam Is Dead Sam wants to fight against the Lobsterbacks but his dad thinks they should leave it be and be loyal to Britain and their king. Sam joins the rebel forces and it impacts the rest of his family who want to remain neutral and avoid war with England. When Sam joins the war his dad gets very mad at him and his family wishes he'd stay home. If I had to choose a side I think that I would agree with...

Words: 404 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Wave Novel Study

...Study: Wave Part A: Plot 1. The point of view in which the story is written is of Sam and Beth Brooks, two siblings who have been separated at Christmas in 2004, with Sam on vacation away from home and Beth forcibly staying at university for a swim meet that she must attend. I believe that the author chose to write from these perspectives because both characters are greatly affected greatly by the main plot, though dealing with it in two different situations. Sam is experiencing the entire story from Phuket, Thailand, where they are hit with a tsunami. Beth was in New York at her dorm, first learning about the tsunami from her boyfriend, Tad. Both characters have different feelings about what has happened, and we, as the readers, get to hear both perspectives. 2. The story takes place on the one hand in Phuket, Thailand during Christmas break of 2004, and on the other side of the world in New York, where Beth's dorm and university are located. The difference that the setting makes is that if most of the characters were not located in Thailand where the tsunami happened, and majority of the story did not take place there, we would only be privy to secondary information of what was happening. Beth was only able to watch the huge tsunami unfold on television, being an unbelievable 27-hour flight away from the wave. Sam having been in Phuket even before the tidal wave hit was a primary witness in the events...

Words: 1852 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

My Brother Sam Is Dead Summary

...The book My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Christopher Collier describes the life of the Meeker family during the revolutionary war. The book was set in Redding Ridge, Connecticut and the war started right after the battle of Lexington and Concord. The book includes three main characters Sam, Tim, and Life Meeker. Sam is 17 years old, he likes to talk without thinking. He is rebellious, short tempered, ead strong, and brave. Tim is 12-13 years old and is the younger brother of Sam. He is caring, brave, smart, and responsible boy. Life Meeker is Sam’s and Tim’s father. He is loyal to the British King and is brave, short tempered, rebellious, responsible, and cares about his family. The book begins with Sam coming home and telling the family about how the rebel minutemen defeated the lobsterbacks or the British army in Lexington and Concord. Sam himself was wearing a red uniform wanted father’s gun so he can fight for the rebels. Then he and father fought until father kicked Sam out of the house and then no one was looking Sam stole the gun and joined the war. Then, continental troops came into Redding Ridge to confiscate weapons. They went door to door confiscating weapons, only because they knew Redding Ridge was a tory town which meant they were loyal to the British King. They came into the Meeker’s home and injured father...

Words: 654 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Allusions to Hamlet

...Shakespeare’s classic tale of revenge have turned up in some surprising places: children’s television programs and films, a popular television series about a corrupt motorcycle gang and other well-known shows, motion pictures, and best-selling contemporary novels. Perhaps one of the most interesting Hamlet interpretations is a film for children called Green Eggs and Hamlet. The live-action film, released in 1995 and written by Mike O’Neil, retells the tragic tale in classic Dr. Seuss rhyme. The film follows Prince Hamlet as he seeks to avenge his father’s murder, while his servant, Sam Iamlet, encourages him to sample a new food dish. The Disney classic, The Lion King, is also fully based on Hamlet. Released in 1994, The Lion King contains some direct parallels to the play, including the death of King Mufasa at the hands of his scheming brother, Scar. Mufasa’s young son, Simba, is visited by his dead father’s ghost, and there is even comic relief provided by two supplemental characters – Timon and Pumba. Although there is some debate over whether the references to Hamlet were intentional, this is where the similarities end, as The Lion King has a much happier ending and far fewer deaths. Sesame Street also took on the almighty play. Monsterpiece Theater, a recurring segment on the show, featured Mel Gibson as Hamlet in 1994. Gibson repeated “words, words, words, while Elmo – who cannot read – looks at “pictures, pictures, pictures.” Countless numbers of television series have...

Words: 1190 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Uncle Tom's Cabin

...Part I : Summary The book started with two men who are talking. It was Mr. Shelby, the master and a man who lend Mr. Shelby money, named Mr. Haley. They were talking about Mr. Shelby’s debts and how he could pay the man. They came up to the idea that Mr. Shelby will pay the man through his slaves. He will give slaves to Mr. Haley and the man agreed to it. Mr. Shelby decided that he will give Tom, one of his honest slaves and the Harry who was the son of, Eliza and George Harris. Eliza heard what Mr. Shelby said and he planned on escaping with his son because he don’t want to be far from it. She told her plan to her husband hoping that they will reunite in Ohio. Mr. Haley knew this and followed her when she tried escaping. She escaped in Ohio using only a floating ice on the river and that made her escape Mr. Haley. On the other hand, Tom stayed with Mr. Haley because he believes that Mr. Shelby will be disappointed if he will run away. Mr. Haley and Tom, traveled. While they were travelling, Tom saved a little girl from drowning which was Little Eva. Augustine St. Clare bought Tom from Mr. Haley to make him the personal servant of Little Eva. Eva and Augustine were both kind, unlike the mother of Eva. Tom and Little Eva became close to each other and comfortable. Eva became ill and when she was about to die he gave something to the servants so that they will remember Little Eva. Augustine promised Tom that he will be freed but even before that happened, Augustine...

Words: 8111 - Pages: 33

Free Essay

Xxxx

...go/can you stand the rain (live) Jodice – What about us (This is a hit!!!) Jodice – Alone (dope) Isaac Hayes – Ik’s Mood (dope) Mark Asari –Revive (dope AF) Michael Jackson – The Lady in my life (Dope) Ericka Baduh – didn’t u know (ill) Switch- I call your name(coo) Erick Sermon – Fat gold chain (Dope AF) Silver Convention – Fly robin, fly (Checkit) SWV – Weak Mikey Dread – Roots and Culture (nice) Charles Earland – Happy ‘cause I’m goin’ home (Dope) Cortex – Juit Octobre 1971 (dope AF) Cortex – Triypeau bleu (coo) Cortex – Chanson D’un jour D'hiver (This shit is crazy!!!) Carole King – It’s to late (nice) The Shirelles – Baby it’s you (???) Tony! Toni! Tone! – Pillow (???) Luther Vandross – So Amazing (The Montserrat session) (nice) Melvin Sparks – Cranberry Sunshine Kaskade-Fire and Ice (kaskade mix) (Coo) Blank & Jones – Face La Mer (this shit is ill) Zeb – The Circle (This is it!!!) Smadj – Sel (Dope AF) Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Summertime (the end is trill) Joe – All the things (the break down in the middle is ill) Earl Klugh –A Certain Smile (intro) Earl Klugh – Another Time, Another Place Earl Klugh – Could it be I’m falling in love (coo) Glenn Lewis – Simple things (the intro) Savant – Prelude (the inro is dope AF) Magnum Force – share my love Nat King Cole – Almost like being in Love (the intro is Dope) Adam Feeney & Chester Stone Hansen – vibes (NICE!!!) The Intruders – I wanna know your name Main Ingredient – I’m...

Words: 14135 - Pages: 57

Premium Essay

Nothing

...Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by STEPHEN chbosky Published by: POCKET BOOKS, Simon and Schuster Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright 1999 by Stephen Chbosky BOOK JACKET INFORMATION standing on the fringes of life ... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks Of Being A WALLFLOWER This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, andThe Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known asgrowingup. visit us on the world wide web _inghttpwhststwwwlessimonsayscom_wh _inghttpwhststwwwmtvcom_wh stephenchboskygrew...

Words: 66427 - Pages: 266

Premium Essay

Gone Home

...title by indie studio The Fullbright Company. Love, loneliness, secrets, desperation, sexual identity, growing up, acting out — it’s all there, hidden under beds and shoved into closets. I saw my childhood in there, and my adulthood, too, and the messy, complicated things I feel toward my family. It left me feeling raw, and clean, and quiet. It’s just a house. It made me cry.  The year is 1995, and twenty year old Katie has just returned home from a year abroad. Not that the house is a home she knows. Her parents moved while she was away, and the house is as unfamiliar to Katie as it is to the player — after all, you are one and the same. No one is there to greet you. The door is locked. The house is empty. The only acknowledgment you are given is a note written by your younger sister, Sam. She apologizes for not being there. She asks that you not go digging around for answers. She says she’ll see you again one day. And that’s it. There’s no quest log, no directions, no arrow pointing you toward something of use. Gone Home hinges on the assumption that curiosity alone is enough to drive the player onward. It certainly was for me. The farther I went into the house, the more anxious I was to learn what had happened there. Why had no one been there waiting for me? Was Sam hurt? Were my parents hurt? Was I in danger? Was I really alone? A storm raged outside, drumming on...

Words: 4180 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Horror Themes

...A famous scene from one of the first notable horror films, Nosferatu (1922) Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. Horror films often feature scenes that startle the viewer; the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Thus they may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.[1] Horror films often deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, commonly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, curses, satanism, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. Conversely, movies about the supernatural are not necessarily always horrific.[2] Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 1890s–1920s 1.2 1930s–1940s 1.3 1950s–1960s 1.4 1970s–1980s 1.5 1990s 1.6 2000s 2 Sub-genres 3 Influences 3.1 Influences on society 3.2 Influences internationally 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links [edit]History [edit]1890s–1920s See also: List of horror films of the 1890s, List of horror films of the 1900s, List of horror films of the 1910s, and List of horror films of the 1920s Lon Chaney, Sr. in The Phantom of the Opera The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of the silent shorts...

Words: 4774 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Bible 104 Worldview Essay

...The book of Judges introduces us to the long years of Israel’s struggle to maintain control of the Promised Land and serves as the transition from the conquest to the kingdom. It deals with events following Joshua’s death (c. 1380 BC) The main body of the story revolves around six cycles of apostasy, repentance, and deliverance. God intervenes time and again to rescue the struggling Israelites from military oppression, spiritual depression, and ethnic annihilation. The book of Judges derives its title from the Latin Liber Judicum, but the Hebrew title is shophetim. The verbal form (“to judge”) describes the activity of the various deliverers whom God used despite their personal challenges, oddities, or inadequacies Most of the biblical judges were heroes or deliverers more than legal arbiters. They were raised up by God and empowered to execute the judgment of God upon Israel’s enemies. The sovereignty of God over His people is seen in these accounts as God, the ultimate Judge (11:27), judges Israel for her sins, brings oppressors against her, and raises up human judges to deliver her from oppression when she repents. I. Reason for the Judges (Judges 1:1–2:23) The period of the judges followed the death of Joshua (1:1) when Israel was left with no central ruler. While the book of Joshua represents the apex of victory for the Israelite tribes, the book of Judges tells the story of their heartache and struggle to maintain control of the land. While the conquest of the land...

Words: 6549 - Pages: 27

Free Essay

Halloween Film Critique

...chill, provoke and keep the listener wondering "what if..?" Horror films are the present-day version of the epic poems and ballads told round the fires of our ancestors. Horror movies of the 1970s reflect the grim mood of the decade. After the optimism of the 1960s, with its sexual and cultural revolutions, and the moon landings, the seventies was something of a disappointment. By 1970, the party was over; the Beatles split, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix died, while John Kennedy, his brother Robert, and Martin Luther King were all felled by an assassin’s bullet. These tragedies seemed to be just the first domino to fall, for then came Nixon, Nam, oil strikes, Watergate, and when society goes bad, horror films tend to get a resurgence, as a result of this turmoil, the 1970s marked a return to the big budget, respectable horror film, dealing with contemporary societal issues, addressing genuine psychological fears. It was within these times that horror was once again considered a dead genre. Much like the Western movies were...

Words: 3153 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

Freud, the ‘Uncanny’, 1919

...3673 THE ‘UNCANNY’ (1919) Freud - Complete Works. Ivan Smith 2000. All Rights Reserved. 3675 THE ‘UNCANNY’ I It is only rarely that a psycho-analyst feels impelled to investigate the subject of aesthetics, even when aesthetics is understood to mean not merely the theory of beauty but the theory of the qualities of feeling. He works in other strata of mental life and has little to do with the subdued emotional impulses which, inhibited in their aims and dependent on a host of concurrent factors, usually furnish the material for the study of aesthetics. But it does occasionally happen that he has to interest himself in some particular province of that subject; and this province usually proves to be a rather remote one, and one which has been neglected in the specialist literature of aesthetics. The subject of the ‘uncanny’ is a province of this kind. It is undoubtedly related to what is frightening - to what arouses dread and horror; equally certainly, too, the word is not always used in a clearly definable sense, so that it tends to coincide with what excites fear in general. Yet we may expect that a special core of feeling is present which justifies the use of a special conceptual term. One is curious to know what this common core is which allows us to distinguish as ‘uncanny’ certain things which lie within the field of what is frightening. As good as nothing is to be found upon this subject in comprehensive treatises on aesthetics, which in general prefer to concern...

Words: 13536 - Pages: 55