Success On The Battlefield In Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels

Success on The Battlefield Success will only be given to the person who creates it on his or her own. Michael Shaara put this theme in the frontlines of his book The Killer Angels a historical novel about the battle of Gettysburg. Shaara uses the battle to prove not just how people earn success but also perceive it. What each commander does and how it affects the battle overall show just how much somebody’s action affects the outcome. The Killer Angels also shows the consequences of one’s decisions and how this can lead them down or off the path of success. The way someone perceive success and what you do to achieve it can be just as important as the end product. The actions of the commanders, whether they be victories or defeats, shows

The first and most important step in achieving success is identifying what somebody considered success if you cannot identify what it is you wish to succeed in you cannot even start on the path towards success. During one of his many speeches in the book General Robert E. Lee says ‘“This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing.”’ (Shaara 28). Lee shows us that many different people have many different views of success and these views of this success shows them what they must do to achieve it. He also says “Gettysburg is of no importance” (Shaara 145). The Confederate States and the Union states both have the ultimate goal of defeating the other but in the armies of both sides separate officers want to achieve different things. On the subject of his opposing general in the Union forces Lt. General Armstrong of the Confederate states said “That man will fight us every day and every hour till the end of the war”(brotherswar.com). Grant was determined to defeat the Confederate forces completely and set his sights to take Richmond and end the war. Success comes first from one perception of it if one cannot define success they cannot achieve