My Brother Sam Is Dead

Yeayoung KohEnglish 8B

Chapter 1-Summary

Sam has returned to his family with news of rebellion and hard-headed talk of war. Sam and Father, who both have different opinions in politics and war, have an argument. He is later horrified to find that the only reason Sam had come home was to take the brown Bess. In the end Sam runs away. Father, as hard as he may be, still cries of worry for his son.

Chapter 1- Admiration

Tim obviously adores and admires his brother, but for all the silly things. As much as he realizes that his brother has faults and is pretty stupid sometimes, it IS his brother. The way Sam presents himself makes Tim awed of all his accomplishments.

Chapter 1- Peace

In this section, Tim hates how father and Sam always fight and wishes for Sam to be more obedient and his father more reasonable. He likes to keep peace, and he does not know or see which one of them are right. Father always is a little bit grumpier and Sam runs away after a fight.

Chapter 2- Summary

After Sam’s departure there is talk of it town and church. Tom Warrups tells Tim where his brother his, and Tim goes to see him. Sam pressures Tim to choose what side he is in, but Tim does not know nor understand whose side he should be on. He tells Sam that he thinks he should come home, returning the stolen gun, and that father had been crying. Tim’s effort is fruitless and he returns home in tears.

Chapter 2- Pressure

In this section Tim is pressured to choose sides. If it was I, and I did not have a side to choose, it would have been very uncomfortable and annoying to have limited choices thrown in my face. I think Tim is breaking under the pressure, therefore, he runs off crying.

Chapter 2- Uncertainty

In this section, there is also uncertainty on Tim’s front. Father’s talk of peace and stupidity sounds right, but Sam’s talk of fighting for freedom sounds right too. So, Tim is not ready to choose sides between Torry or Patriot, for he does not fully understand.

Chapter 3- Summary

After the War, Tim expects some change in the atmosphere, but nothing has changed except for some heated arguments and missing Sam. Betsy comes secretly to ask Tim if he will tell if Sam returns. For months Tim waits for his return. Even more later, Betsy comes into the Tavern signaling to Tim that Sam has returned.

Chapter 3- Change

In this section, Tim expects some major change to happen because of the war, but nothing much has changed. The taxes and prices are rising, some robberies for scarce food, and that episode where father threw out a man. But except for that, everything is null.

Chapter 3- Missing

Despite the fact that Sam had left them with broken hearts, Tim just can’t wait to see his brother. He is enthusiastic to hear about his glorious and triumphant stores and to see his face once more. All in all, they will always be family.

Chapter 4- Summary

Tim is about to deceive his father to go visit Sam when a couple of Rebel soldiers and an officer come into the tavern and start to bully father for his brown bess. Tim runs to save his father and tries to take the brown bess from Sam while he is sleeping. When Sam caught up with him Tim is so delirious he would have shot his own brother. Yet he still admires Sam, despite his talk of fight leading him nowhere.They go to see what has become of Father. But, the rebels had left and Sam runs away again.

Chapter 4- Insane

In this section Tim has lost his mind a little and is in a state of panic delirium. He is so freaked out and worried that his father would get killed, he would hurt one family member to save another. Tim slightly loses it here, but with the best intentions and no other choice.

Chapter 4- Embarrassed

Sam is very embarrassed in this section for he has not fought a single battle yet. When he left to be a soldier, he was full of brave talk of how splendidly he was going to fight for his freedom and principles. Yet, in the end, all he had done is march around and play soldier boy.

Chapter 5- Summary

Food is finally becoming a little scarce, and both sides of the war start stealing for resources. Tim wonders which side he fight for and if war really is so glorious. Mr. Heron offers Tim a errand, but it may be a potentially dangerous spy message. Father and Tim have a confrontation for Tim wants to be a part of the war no matter which side.Father is unchangeable and Tim finds a way to sneak off.

Chapter 5- Role Model

Tim starts to wonder if all his brother ever did was that “macho” and “glorious” and “triumphant”. Perhaps everything that an older brother does seems admire-some. You just naturally look up to older wiser people. He considers that being a soldier won’t be that much fun, as milking cows wasn’t fun either

Chapter 5- Adventure

Tim wants to be a soldier like Sam and participate in the war. He does not care which side he helps as long as he is helping. This proves that Tim probably only wants to do this so that he will have an exciting brave memory to tell. Also a part of Sam is sen in him when he talks back to his father.

Chapter 6- Summary

Tim is able to go run Mr. Heron’s errand. On the way he meets Betsy who is going off, surprisingly, to meet Sam. This information is suspiciously from Mr. Heron who did not think it important to tell Tim. Betsy deduces that Tim is carrying a spy letter and think it may endanger Sam. Betsy and Tim battle for the letter but all it states it “If this message is received, the messenger is reliable.

Chapter 6- Suspicion

I think that Mr. Heron is a suspicious character. Why is he a torry when he pretends to help the patriots? And also, he seems a bit shady to send a kid like Tim on a potentially dangerous mission. Altogether I don’t think that Mr. Heron is a positive character and one that only cares for materialism.

Chapter 6- Betsy

It is proven time and time again that Betsy is a strong, straightforward person. She quickly gets to the point about the letter Tim has and then outwardly fights the potential danger for the ones she love. Not many girls in that time period probably had that kind of bravery and stomach to fight so hard.

Chapter 7- Summary

Tim manages to avoid Mr. Heron and just forgets about it soon. A letter arrives from Sam saying how hard life is as a soldier, although he seems generally content. Father and the mother argue about replying to the letter. The mother replies anyways despite the father’s wishes. Soon father and Tim go to Verplanck’s Point to sell cattle and stock up their equipment when they get stopped by cowboys who bully father for selling meat to rebels. Loyalist guards to save and escort them to their relatives house.

Chapter 7- Irony

It is rather ironical that the father gets angry at Sam for not doing what he says, when he himself dislikes being ordered around. He is asking Sam to be a different person, when he has just the same characteristics. This reminds me of the quote, “why do you complain of the sawdust in your brother’s eyes, when you have a woodblock on yours.”

Chapter 7- Thieves

I truly think that the cowboys that the father and Tim meet are true Rebels. They just wear the title as a mask to hide who they truly are, thieving and tricking bandits. Those cowboys were one of those nasty and selfish people who used the confusion of war to gain for themselves.

Chapter 8- Summary

Tim meets his cousins and the hard living conditions give him a new perspective. He always gains more experience by seeing the Hudson River and the hard working fishers. The trade is successful, but their journey back is encumbered by the early snow. Traveling gets slower and harder, therefore they have no choice but to rest at the Platt’s.

Chapter 8- Perspective

I think that Tim is getting to learn, understand, and appreciate his life more while spending time with his cousin’s house. In his cousins’ point of view, being raised in a Tavern is comfortable with not much work. Also he sees that the fishermen working in the river looks exiting and full of adventure. But, he then sees the fishermen tired and worn by the end of the day and realizes that their life isn't that amazing after all. All of his life changes with perspective.

Chapter 8- Uncomfortable

After the experience of the Loyalists saving them, and the fact that his father is a Torry makes him think that if he were to fight, he would join the British. Still, he feels uneasy about the thought of fighting and having to kill Sam or anybody for that matter. For all he knows, he could be killing some else’s brother.

Chapter 9- Summary

Tim and Father go on their way without their escort and the snow piles on even thicker. Life goes up ahead just as lookout but he does not return for a long time. He goes looking for his father and finds that he’s been ambushed. He decides to drive the oxen on, choosing the smart choice. The cowboys come, but Tim was able to trick them by planting fear, and returns home safely.

Chapter 9- Role Models

Tim obviously thinks of his brother’s opinion first then his father’s. In this situation he realizes that Sam would have done the brave thing and go save father. But,He realizes it was also fairly dumb. He then thinks that father would have driven the oxen home so that they would have supplies for the tavern. He decides that this is the best thing to do. As conflict comes Tim has to grow up and make his own choices.

Chapter 9-Grown Up

When you read it in this book, I think the author doesn’t do a very good job of picturing the stress Tim is in. When you read of it, being able to make the right choice when your father is captured, and being able to be brave and lie when armed men are near seems easy and predictable. Yet, if you pictured yourself in that situation, you can, in a way, understand how concentrated and mature Tim has become.

Chapter 10- Summary

There is much more work to do in the tavern without father or Sam there to help. One normal day, Tim hears thundering which happened to be british troops. The organized troops enter Captain Bett’s house then shoots a rebel messenger that was coming toward them without knowing the situation. While Tim runs for Dr. Hobart’s house he witnesses the massacre of Captain Star and many other rebels. He loses all the preference for the British.

Chapter 10- Pessimism

Many people are losing hope in the rebels, and people start to discuss that the rebel soldiers won’t be allowed to return home and that commissary notes won’t be worth anything. Also when the British troops show, it is obvious that they are very organized and have large numbers. As if this isn’t enough, they also have the advantage of better resources.

Chapter 10

In this section, Tim loses the preference and sympathy that he had acquired for the British. Since his father was a loyalist, and since the loyalist guard had saved them, he had thought better of the british. But, when he saw them ruthlessly killing and destroying good people, his heart and mind quickly changed.

Chapter 11- Summary

The rebel messenger is cured and explains that Captain Benedict Arnold was going to take his army to follow the british. Tim hopes to meet Sam and they finally reunite. Sam looks very poor and eats like he had been starved. Mother tries to tell Sam to return home after his enlistment is up, and Sam argues. Tim tells the mother to let it go for he understands nothing can change the mind of stubborn Sam.

Chapter 11- Protective

When Captain Bett’s orders Tim to go ring the church bell, his mother refuses to send her son saying that she has lost enough men to this dreaded war. Captain Bett’s is ruffled and leaves annoyed. Both Tim and the Mother now seem to have an agreement that whatever the reason, war is a horrible thing. Tim’s mother refuses to take a chance of going through another heartbreak, and Tim does not want to help either horrid side.

Chapter 11- Equal

In this section, Tim seems to become Sam’s equal. He now truly understands his brother’s faults and stupidity. He understands that Sam only stayed at war because, despite his hard and cruel soldier life, he feels complete, important, and included when he is a part of this war. Tim sees now that politics were never Sam’s number one cause.

Chapter 12- Summary

Mother and Tim learn of father’s death. Everyone has lost patience, rigor, and belief in the war and Tim truly doesn’t feel any sympathy for both sides. Sam visits wary and tired but still has high spirit. Sam advises Tim to butcher and store the eight cows that they have. In the end, soldiers try to steal them yet Sam gets framed for the deed.

Chapter 12- War

When the war first started, it meant so much to Betsy and Tim. Betsy was willing to die to fight with the continentals, and Tim wanted to help but couldn’t decide which side to help. The mother was just willing to accept as a force as uncontrolled as weather itself. Now, all of them are exasperated, disgusted and melancholy about the war. No hopes and no spirits lie in the war. The excitement and danger of it may have caught their attention, but as a girl first adores and worries for her little brother, the care fades when the little brother ends up chewing up all her toys.

Chapter 12- Setting

It is quite evident, and this chapter has proven it even more, that when a person is put into an unknown surrounding, they can’t help but change. Most of the soldiers were probably decently mannered and had some morals before the war. As times change and become unfamiliar situations, stealing seems to become an ideal option.

Chapter 13- Summary

Sam is framed well and there is much danger in the situation. Mrs. Meeker and Tim tries to speak to the general, and Betsy tries her best as well, still the situation does not change. Sam seems doomed to be killed and Mrs. Meeker starts to lose it.

Chapter 13- Adult

I think that in this section, Tim becomes more of a adult. He is able to stand up and keep living as disaster strikes over and over again. But, Mrs. Meeker, loses all hope and reduces to tears and drinking. The comparison just proves who is the more rational and that Tim has become an adult now.

Chapter 13- Fairness

In the confusing and horrible times of war, fairness and justice do not become a part of a people’s vocabulary list. The leaders of the war only dream of order, therefore they sincerely have no choices left but to punish anyone they can get their clutches on. It does not help if they are truly innocent, nor does it matter. Anything that shows some control is okay to the officers and captains.

Chapter 14- Summary

Depressed and melancholy to the guts Mrs. Meeker and Tim are both locked in their hearts to protect themselves from the pain and seem feelingless. As the feelingless zombie, Tim goes to rescue Sam without an idea in his head. Obviously the plan fails and Tim returns home with a heavy heart. Tim attends Sam’s execution and manages to see one last smile from Sam.

Chapter 14- Devastation

There are different ways people deal with pain. Sometime people, like Tim, cannot handle it, therefore, they lock their heart and mind up to not feel. This results in the unfeeling reckless decision of Tim to rescue his brother. Other people, like Mrs. Meeker, just wallow in depression and sadness. I could see this from her statement saying that Tim might as well die with his brother, so maybe later, there won’t be the repetition of pain.

Chapter 14- Inner Strength

If you can say honestly that you would be able to smile on your death bed, you would deserve the title of the most bravest person alive. Sam hides his horror to protect his brother. Bravery, as I said before in a different slide, does not judge how much of a dare-devil you are, but the strength to chose which is more important then any fear.