Death Can't Speak

 “War may sometimes be a necessary evil.  But no matter how necessary, it is always evil, never good.  We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.” -Jimmy Carter.  This quote holds true in the book My Brother Sam is Dead.  This book is about a family who is separated by two things; war and death.  The story is told from the point of view of boy named Tim.  Tim has always looked up to his older brother, Sam, but now Sam has gone off to fight in the war.  Now Tim is left at home with his mother and father to run their family business.

There has to be a reason why the author chose to write this book from Tim’s point of view.  It obviously wasn’t because Tim had the most action packed life, or that Tim completely understood the effects of war and wanted to stop it. No, it was because of his innocence.  Tim had never seen a war.  Tim had never been in a war.  Tim didn’t know very much about war.  This book was written for people from the ages of about 10-16.  Most of these people have the same feelings and worries about war that Tim had, which made it easier for them to connect to the book.  They might not know which side to be on for the war either.  Even to the end of the book, Tim really hadn’t picked a side.  Another reason the author might have chosen to tell the story through Tim is because he stayed alive for the entire book whereas Sam and his father did not.    

                 What if the story was told from Sam’s point of view?  The story would be very different.  One of the main differences would be that instead of hearing all about what is happening outside of the war at Sam and Tim’s home, you would get all the action of war.  You would hear about how he had to sit with a dying soldier for six hours, just waiting for him to die.  You would hear about where the army was going.  You would hear about all the struggles that Sam faced throughout the war.  But the author couldn’t write the story from Sam’s point of view because in the end, he dies.  The author couldn’t explain what it felt like to die, since he himself obviously hasn’t died.

                Tim’s point of view was the best choice for this book. This was a war that he experienced from inside his home.  He didn’t go very far without anyone with him for fear of the war.  Tim explained the war and what it meant to him clearly.  Tim couldn't decide on whether war was a necessary evil or not, but no matter what, war is not good.  War causes pain.  War causes suffering.  War causes death.  We can not learn to live in peace in a world that is filled with war.