This paper compares two first-person novels about war, My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and his brother Christopher Collier, and The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien. The first is a story about the American Revolution, the second is a story about the war in Vietnam. Both are firsthand stories of very different American wars, narrated by characters named Tim, and both are very interesting novels that tell about important history from very personal points of view. Both are fictional accounts that could easily be true. This paper shows some of their most important similarities and differences.
My Brother Sam Is Dead is set in the town of Redding, Connecticut, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. This setting puts the story close to a lot of major historical events. It also lets the authors create a realistic picture of life during that time.
The story is told by Tim Meeker, who is about 14 at the beginning of the book. He lives with his parents, Eliphalet (known as Life) and Susannah, and helps them run their tavern. His older brother Sam, 16, has left his college studies to join the rebel cause. As much as he admires Sam, Tim is not sure that his brother is right to defy their father and leave school. He says, "It sounded right when he said it - that we should be free and not have to take orders from people who were so far away, and all that. But I figured there had to be more to it than Sam knew about" (Collier 9).
One day, while Tim and his father are returning from a long, dangerous trip to New York to get supplies, his father disappears. The story ends when Sam, on one of his return visits with his company, is arrested and executed for stealing cattle.
One of the main themes in this novel is that big historical events are made up of small battles and personal stories. The book begins with an argument between Sam and Life about the reasons to fight. Sam tells him that he has bec...