In The Killer Angels, author Michael Shaara (1996) recreates a fictional-historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg, a four-day period in June and July of 1863. The book opens with the first battle and extends through PickettÆs Charge. Shaara (1996) argues that the reason for writing the novel that unfolds to us primarily through the personal perspectives of three of its participants was so that readers can know ôwhat it was like to be [at the Battle], what the weather was like, what menÆs faces looked likeö (vii).
The novel provides us with the Battle of Gettysburg from multiple perspectives, those of Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain (Union) and Generals Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet, both for the Confederacy. Through actual correspondence and a number of historical documents, Shaara reveals the realities of combat at Gettysburg. Along the way the novel provides the reader with the feelings and thoughts of Chamberlain, Lee and Longstreet. This aspect of the novel is fiction, but through these different perspectives we come to a greater appreciation of the Battle and its participants. By providing multiple perspectives on the Civil War, Shaara does an excellent job of illustrating the human factor involved in AmericaÆs war of brother against brother.
The authorÆs effort to show us the human factor behind the conflicts of the Civil War is greatly aided by his use of multiple perspectives. The book alternates our look at the war through different participant perspectives. The Killer Angels is divided into four sections, each a different date. The first is June 29, 1863, followed by July 1-3, the three actual days of battle. In each section we are provided with the different perspective of significant participants like Lee, Longstreet and Chamberlain. It is from these perspectives that the most insight is revealed about the human motivations behind the conflicts between North and South. For example, when C...