How Does Collier Prove War In My Brother Sam Is Dead

“Look at Europe,they’ve had one war after another for hundreds of years and show me where anything got better for them” (Collier and Collier 28). The authors James Collier and Christopher Collier of My Brother Sam Is Dead both prove they are not against war, but at the same time, they prove war is okay in the story. They use their feelings about if war should be okay or not okay through Tim’s father. Sam,one of the characters and sibling of Tim, argue that that they should be fighting for freedom and his father argues that war is not worth it. Even though both sides are presented in the story, Collier and Collier conclusively claim in My Brother Sam Is Dead that war is brutal and pointless.

The authors dispute that it would tear family apart if there is war. For example, in the story, Tim and Sam’s dad say, “ Go, Sam. Go. Get out of my sight. I can’t bear to look at you anymore in that vile costume. Get out. And don’t come back until you come dressed as my son, not as a stranger” (Collier and Collier 22). This quote proves that it tears families apart only because Sam is wearing a patriot suit and it is making Sam’s father

For example, in the story, Tim says, “ In Junes of that year, 1777, we found out that father was dead. He’d been dead for a month. It happened pretty much as we’d guessed it: he’d been sent to a British ship in New York” (Collier and Collier 164). The death of Tim’s father is showing principle versus reality in this quote. It’s showing that Tim’s father’s death is what would happen in reality if there is war. In the story, Tim also says, “ The sword flashed in a bright arc, the fastest thing I ever saw move. Ned’s head jumped off his body and popped into the air” (Collier and Collier 144). Ned was another character who was in the reality of his death. He got his head cut off only because he interfered in the war. Principle versus is what would happen if a war