Government Control

Author’s Note: In this final essay I will demonstrate my understanding of comparing and contrasting to books that I have read.

            Money is power, and power is the only thing about which current citizens care for.  Tim Meeker has to make a decision which should allow him to betray or keep his family.  Meanwhile Luke Garner is at a battle with the new and improved government for letting him live his life freely.  These two characters may seem different but you will be surprised at how much they have in common.   The book My Brother Sam is Dead and Among the Hidden are both based on the theme of government control, although they show this in unique ways.

In my historical fiction book My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Christopher Collier many citizens are fighting in a war that has broken out because of how the government has been running the country.  For example the government was taxing the nation and making new unnecessary laws, so the colonists broke out in war.  The Rebels decided to dump tea into the Hudson River to really show the government how they felt. 

Not only is this theme portrayed in my historical fiction book but also in the series Among the Barons.  In this book the theme of government control is showed in a very cruel and unfair way.  The government decided they should not allow parents to have more than two kids, if they have a third it would then result in death upon all that are guilty.  The third children of the country or also known as shadow children try and rebel against the government and make a difference in the world. 

On the other hand, and maybe more importantly, these books are from completely different time periods.  In my historical fiction book the plot takes place in the late 1700’s hence the term historical, because it happened in the past.  Where as in the book Among the Hidden it is demonstrating what will happen in the future.  The timeline is well thought out in both of the books though. 

So as you can see these books are very similar, even if they did seem very different in the beginning.  Hopefully next time you read two books you will think of how they may be similar or how they could be different.  In other words these books portrayed the main theme of government control in different but also similar ways.

Are your problems resolved?

Authors Note: In my essay I will demonstrate my understanding of resolutions of main conflicts.  Also this will prove that no one will ever win in the outcome of a war.

As you live your life you will realize that you will have to overcome many obstacles and you may never even overcome that obstacle.  The book I am reading is called My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher, and there are many events that showed that war is unfair and pointless.  There will never be a resolution after a war because so many men and women were injured and killed and a person can’t come back after they have passed on.  The Meeker family experienced this horrific tragedy in the book.  No matter who you think will win the war, no one will be satisfied in the end.

The Revolutionary war played a very important role in the Meeker family.  It caused outbursts of rage and disappointment throughout the book.  One quote that was spoken frequently throughout the book went like this, “The dead will pay the debt of the living.”  This just proved that war is unfair in many ways because the innocent people died for the deserving ones.  War was a huge conflict too many families that eventually went away when the war ended, but the problems never truly resolved themselves because the ones who died weren’t able to come back.  Some battles may seem like they have been won, but the real battle is truly never over.

The Meeker family will always grieve over their loss of family members but life will go on for them. Some battles will never be over for some people and sadly a lot of families have to deal with this issue.  So I will simply state that the Meeker family issues were never resolved because of their loss of family and friends. Always remember that no matter what the war will always bring the worst out of people and no one will win in the end.

Do you know your point of view?

 Authors Note: I will prove to you in this essay that the point of view will affect how the book is interpreted and that the view of a scene could change. NOTE: This short essay may give away some information of the end of the book.

In My Brother Sam is Dead, the strong influence of father working on one side, and the curiousness of Sam working on the other, leaves Tim in the middle to determine his own point of view on things.  From the perspective of Tim Meeker, certain events are created in violent outbursts about how the war will have changed his family forever.  In every situation that we encounter we will each find that we have a different point of view.  In the book My Brother Sam Is Dead it specifically projects how the story could be interpreted differently, if told by others.

One way that Tim’s point of view could affect the interpretation was when Sam was getting executed by the British.  If told from the British soldiers point of view, he could have felt in control and overpowering.  However when Tim told this it made me felt full of sorrow and despair.  A quote that was spoken all throughout the book was spoken by Mr. Meeker and it went like this, “The dead pay the debt of the living.”  This quote really shows that for people to be able to feel good about them in the war they have to kill someone else in replace of themselves.  It relates to point of view because Sam had to pay the debt of someone who had done wrong in this world.  As you can see Sam’s actions could have affected many people.

Not only is the way the story is told very important because that could also change the interpretation of the reader.  Since Tim is telling the story he makes his brother seem like the most wonderfully brave and fun college boy.  So I would interpret that Sam is a real fun and brave guy.  On the other hand if father was telling the story then I would assume that he is a real arrogant immature college kid.  Therefore the point of view of the narrator is very important if we will want to know about other characters or scenes.

Interpretation is one of the main things that would change if the point of view changed.  That is not the only thing that would change though the scenes in the book would also change because the new character could not have been involved in it.  When you’re reading a story you need to make sure that you know the point of view from which it is being told; that is very important.  Next time you read a story try and imagine the story as if in a different perspective.