Social Studies; Novel or Video?

Author’s Note: This a piece to compare and contrast the events that occurred in “The Patriot” and the novel My Brother Sam is Dead.

            For the past few days of Social Studies class, we read our fictional novel, and watched the movie “The Patriot”. The book that I decided to read was called My Brother Sam is Dead. Although the book and movie were fictional, they were packed with real events, detail, and they described what times were like back during the Revolutionary War very well.

            One of the main things that stand out in these two stories is the plot. They both are placed around the same time in history; Revolutionary War time. Sam and Gabriel both decided to enlist themselves without their parent(s) permission. Also, they are the oldest sons in the family. Each brother has one or more than one younger sibling to watch over and set good examples for. One more thing that they have in common though is the fact that at least one of their siblings dies by shooting. For Gabriel, his younger brother Thomas was shot by Colonel Tavington, while Tim’s older brother Sam was shot for execution.

            As you can see, they have had very similar lives, but in fact, they are very different. For example; Tim only had one sibling in the beginning of the book, while Gabriel had seven in the beginning of the movie. By the time the book was finished and the movie was over, Tim had none, and Gabriel had six and was dead. Their siblings were very different as well. Tim was completely against the war, like his parents, and wishing his brother wasn’t fighting in that bloody war. Gabriel’s oldest, younger brother Thomas was indignant that he wasn’t allowed to fight, but he was only fifteen. His father, Benjamin Martin, told Thomas he would have to be seventeen to go off to fight. Another difference is the Father’s of the story. Tim’s dad went off to fight when he was only fifteen years old and hated war forever after that. On the other hand, Gabriel’s Father went off to war at a young age, resigned, hated war, and came back to become a colonel in the Revolutionary War. In some ways, both of these families fall apart piece by piece. Tim’s only brother dies because of something he was falsely accused of, while two of the oldest boys in the family died from war and the other five kids are heartbroken.

            In conclusion, these two stories explain what times were like for many people fighting in the war, and families of soldiers. Times were hard and the British killed many innocent families. Overall, the movie and book were more similar than different. The Revolutionary War was a big bad battle that was worth the freedom of everyone.