How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Winter came and winter went, and the war went on in the same distant way. Oh, the effects of it were real—the rising prices, the shortage of everything, the news that so-and-so had been killed in some faraway battle. But all the things you think of as belonging to a war, the battles and cannons firing and marching troops and dead and wounded—we hadn't seen any of it, expect for the messengers and commissary officers who came by. (10.19)
For a long time, Tim doesn't see the more horrific effects of the war. Sadly for our main squeeze, he'll soon finds out that some things are definitely better left unseen. But for now, he's only seen a glimpse. What do you think about the way Tim talks about the war? What does it mean that the war is "distant" but also "real"? Can you relate at all?
Quote #8
"Jerry? He's dead?"
"Nobody understands it. They put him on a prison ship and he got sick and died in three weeks. It doesn't make any sense. You can understand why they took Mr. Rogers or Captain Betts, but why imprison a ten-year-old boy?"
"What harm could he have done them? This war has turned men into animals," Mother said. (12.6-8)
Mrs. Meeker definitely isn't a fan of the Revolutionary War. In fact, we'd say it's her least favorite thing in the whole wide world. And hearing that little Jerry died in a prison ship is the last straw. Check out the way Mrs. M calls the soldiers "animals." Do you agree?
Quote #9
"There's a lot you don't understand. All of us have seen good friends killed. I had a friend bayoneted, and it took him six hours to die, screaming all the while. All we could do was hold his hand and wait. I saw a captain I loved blown in half by a cannon ball. He was the best officer we ever had, he worried about his men, he put them first. He never ate before we were fed, and I've seen him go without to give his portion to a sick man. The redcoat blew him in half, right into two pieces with his guts dangling out of both parts." He shivered. "After a few things like that you don't give a damn for anybody but your friends anymore. You kill Redcoats the way you butcher pigs." (12.41)
Sam has gone from being ignorant of the horrors of war to being all too familiar. Does this story remind you of anyone else's? Yep, we're thinking of Mr. Meeker's cautionary tale about the war. He said it would be bloody and horrible, and sadly, he was right. But Sam doesn't only talk about the horrible ways his friends died. He says he'll treat the other side just as badly. We don't like this image of Sam as a "butcher" one bit.