Family Conflicts Caused By War

Author’s Note: This is a compare and contrast piece, comparing the characters from the movie “The Patriot” and the book April Morning.

            The decision by a young man to go to war has an impact on all of his family members. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast many conflicts arose due to Adam’s (the oldest son) desire to enter the Revolutionary war and the father’s reluctance to see his oldest son put himself in danger. In the movie “The Patriot” by Mel Gibson there are similar challenges faced by the family regarding the decision to enter the war. For example the father not wanting his son to go to war, but in this case Gabriel (Benjamin’s oldest son) is old enough to make his own decisions. Adam’s mom also has opinions about his decision but Gabriel’s mom is not there to give that type of advice. In these two stories there are many similarities and differences with how the characters respond to the conflicts created within the families as a result of war.

In this case Moses and Benjamin’s sons want to enter the war but both adults are aware of the dangers they may encounter and are afraid they might get hurt. Having served in a prior war Moses felt he had more experience than his son Adam. Moses did not want Adam to fight in the war because he felt he was too young and was not aware of the dangers that can be encountered in war. In contrast Gabriel is old enough to make his own decision on entering war but Benjamin was a great war hero in the French and Indian war and so he has great knowledge and knows that Gabriel is not ready for the risks. Benjamin cannot stop Gabriel so he decides to join the war to watch over him unlike Moses because Moses can overrule Adam’s decisions. These characters face many similar conflicts but have different ways of solving them.

            Gabriel and Adam were young men in their late teens, with desires to enter the war to defend their freedom from Britain. Neither of the boys were concerned about their personal safety and with little experience did not understand the dangers of war. They both argued with their fathers over the same reasons. Their fathers did not believe that they were ready for war and thought that they were too young and inexperienced. Adam was only 16 and as a result his father was able to overrule his decision to enter the war. Gabriel on the other hand was 18 and considered a man. He was allowed to decide on his own if he should enter the war or not. Adam’s mother (Sarah) is also a big factor in his decision. She gives him advice, as all mothers do. Gabriel does not have a mother anymore. She had died when he was young and now when Gabriel and his father are away at war his other siblings are left to be cared for by his aunt (Charlotte). Adam and Gabriel both wanted to fight, not just to fight but to fight for their freedom and both fathers are oblivious to it.

            Both of the female characters Charlotte and Sarah exhibited a strong giving nature just like mothers even though one was not. Sarah was the mother of Adam and played a key role in his life, but Charlotte was only the aunt of Gabriel and the other siblings, although she had acted as a substitute since their mother had passed away. Charlotte as only being an aunt did not offer an opinion on Gabriel wanting to go to war but Sarah being Adam’s mother advised him that he shouldn’t go. Both women also experienced the tragedies of war first hand since the battles occurred close to their homes. From both perspectives they saw the violent side of war but Charlotte also saw and experienced the cruel side of it. When the war was occurring the British soldiers burned down her house because they knew that she was related to Benjamin. These female characters played an important role that was affected by the decisions of the male characters during the war.

            War creates many conflicts between family members. The youthful inexperience is shown in these two stories by the two eldest sons who are unconcerned and unaware of the dangers of war. The more experienced fathers want to protect their sons from the dangers of war and the other family members are left to deal with the ramifications of the decisions. These characters have many similarities and differences despite the different challenges that occur in their lives.

No Longer Oblivious

Author’s note: The Story “Dead Man’s Path” ended in a women dying in childbirth and the headmaster awaking to his beautiful garden destroyed. In this piece I plan to add more to the ending of the story.

“What has happened?” Mr. Opi blared at the priest.

“I haven’t a clue.” The teacher said sheepishly.

Mr. Opi was infuriated as he rushed into the village. He started asking different people if they knew of what happened to his gardens but he kept getting one response, “It’s the dead man’s path, we can’t control what goes on there.” Now he was even angrier, racing back to the school. When he got there he said “I want that path shutdown and I want it shutdown now.”

He tried to shut it down but that plan had failed. Three years later still as the headmaster he tried to shut it down again. The villagers would not allow it. One day there was an old and frail lady walking on the path, he walked up to her in a hurry. Once he got there in a very sincere voice he said, “Now ma’m out of the things you could be doing with your time why do you choose to walk upon a path like such?”

She replied to him, “This may be your school but my husband died eighteen years ago and I have visited this path every day since then. I have been able to connect with him even when he is not here and so I would not want you just embark on all the things this path has done for me and the village.

His heart had just dropped; he had finally realized what he had been so oblivious to in the past. He hadn’t questioned the path or anything else in the school from that day forward. That moment had changed his life.

Words Can Affect People Without You Knowing It

Author's note: this is a cause and affect of an argument that Moses and Adam have in the book April Morning.

Sometimes people don’t realize the power that words have. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast there is a great example of this. Adam’s father, Moses, does not believe Adam is yet a man. He would often say things like “Are you willing to start a family and make enough money to live on your own?” and Adam would get upset because he didn’t feel that these were necessary to being a man. Moses doesn’t realize how these words affect Adam but it really makes him second guess himself and almost feel he is not wanted. When you are talking to some you should always make sure they understand what you mean completely in the right way.

Adams dad doesn’t intend to hurt his son’s feelings, but he tends to get carried away with things. He already is a little harsh on Adam because he wants him to become a man but he does not think it should happen so soon. When Moses says these things he believes that it will prepare Adam for manhood and does not realize what is really happening with Adam. In Moses’ mind he believes that by not acknowledging that Adam is growing up, he is doing his job as a parent in helping him prepare.

Since Moses wants this he tries to treat him like an adult and Adam cannot see his intent so he takes his words the wrong way. This makes Adam believe that his father does not want to accept the fact that Adam is growing up from childhood to manhood. Adam does not appreciate this and feels when Moses acts this way he does not love him. This is not true but Moses is naïve to seeing how his son reacts to his words.

Being naïve is almost human nature. This is why when we speak we have to be very careful on how the listener takes your words. You cannot just say something like “I’m not inviting you over to my house today.” You would have to say why; otherwise the person would probably think that you don’t like them anymore. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast, there are many examples of one person not understanding the other which later on turn into fights.

The Way You Think of Things

Authors note: This is an assigned piece for class on point of view.  It is on the book April Morning by Howard Fast.

When you start reading a book do you ever really think about the biases? In books there are many biases depending on whose point of view the book is written from.  In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast, it is written from the perspective of the son (Adam). From his perspective, he makes his dad (Moses) seem like a really bad guy. Moses and Adam get into a lot of arguments because Adam feels like he should be treated like a man but his dad doesn’t.  Adam influences the reader to believe that Moses is a horrible father, but this is not true. The point of view of a book can be deceiving and it all depends on whose perspective is being given.

One way that Adam’s point of view does influence the readers is when Adam wants to go to the committee meeting. Adam is almost sixteen but the dads of the community usually wait until their sons are adults before they let them go to the committee meetings. Adam and his father got into an argument because his father, Moses, wouldn’t let him go. Moses was being a little harsh but from Adam’s point of view it made it seem like he didn’t love him anymore. These two quotes show how Adam made it seem like he hated him but he really didn’t, “'He seems to have gotten the idea that you hate him', said Adam’s mother."(pg. 45) “'Hate him! Of all the crazy notions! Of all the idiotic ideas! There a boy, my first-born son-why, how could any man love a son anymore than I love that boy?' said Moses."(pg. 45) They argued and argued but in the end he almost seemed happy. He got to go walk with his girlfriend during the time he would’ve been at a committee meeting.

On the other hand, if this book was written from his mom’s point of view (Sarah) it would be very different. Sarah has a very different perspective than most people in this book because she is on the “outside” of almost everything like, the arguments, committee meetings, and many other things. One of the ways she stays on the outside is by staying out of the arguments. She just sits and listens to it all happen around her. There would be a lot less bias if it was written in her perspective so the reader would feel obligated to choose a side unlike in the original book where you almost have to choose Adam’s side.

As you can see the point of view makes a reader automatically think “oh well he seems so mean I’m going to choose the main characters side.” In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast there is a perfect example of this. The narrator’s (Adam’s) point of view convinces you to think that his dad is a horrible guy, but these things are just bias. All books that are written in the perspective of someone who is in the book have some sort of bias. Whether it’s about a protest or even an argument at home, the perspective of the character will always create some sort of bias.

Can We Live Without Motivation?

 Authors note: This is and essay on how Dally from the book "The Outsiders" is a static character.

          

            Dally ran into the store knowing that if he stole anything they would call the police, because he’s a greaser, which is what he wanted. Shortly after that he burst out of the store carrying a pack of gum. As soon as he got out of the store he could hear the sirens blaring. Dally made his way to the lot as quickly as possible. It was there were the police finally caught up with him. He whispered to himself quietly “I have nothing to live for”, and then pulled out his unloaded gun. The police were unaware that Dally’s gun was not loaded, without hesitation they shot him.  Johnny was Dally’s only motive to live, and without him he had nothing to live for. 

He intentionally committed homicide; he got the police to kill him because he couldn’t do it himself. Dally is a static character because he never changes through the book, he was a nice guy before the book began but once the book begins he already lost his innocence. He was cold and hard throughout the book except when around Johnny. So when Johnny died he felt it was his time too. In the end he was controlled by anger and his tough attitude. Even in death Dally remained static, against all the socs and society in general.

Throughout the book “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton, Dally was a tough, hard guy and Johnny was his life support. He felt that he needed to protect Johnny, who was his only reason to live. Dally got in many fights with socs, and even some with greasers. He stole whatever he wanted and he didn’t care if he got caught or sent to jail. At the end of the book it seemed like he wanted and was trying to change and become nice but then Johnny died. Johnny was his only motive to live, so when he died Dally is taken over and controlled by his anger and tough attitude and eventually intentionally makes the police kill him.

Another reason why Dally is a static character is because of his attitude towards the socs and the police never changed. He hated both groups because of many reasons. Some of them are, the socs jumped him many times for no reason and the police take him to jail just because he is a greaser. He thinks of the socs as just rich snotty kids and didn’t really care about their families. Because of this he treats them really bad and gets in fights with most of them. Even in the end of the book he gets in a big fit against the socs. When it comes to the police Dally doesn’t care if he goes to jail, and I know this because he never buys anything that he needs, he always just steals it.  He is like this in the beginning of the book and at the end because he goes to jail many times and at the end he steals a pack of gum from the store to make the police kill him.

On a different note Dally has a tough and an almost determined attitude and a figure that reminds me of Dally is Jon Krakauer from the book “Into Thin Air”. These two characters are alike because they both are trying to defy stereotypes; Dally by being a greaser while nobody thinks Jon can climb Mount Everest. Also both of these characters are determined to beat the odds, but only one of the two does. Dally seems like he is going to change at the end of the book and overcome Johnny’s death but he lets his toughness control him and purposely gets the   police to kill him. Jon on the other hand does overcome the odds and climbs Mount Everest when nobody thinks he can. Jon could’ve easily given up and let the circumstances determine his fate like Dally did, but instead he faced his challenges and overcame them. Jon and Dally are alike in many ways, but also have their differences.

 Everyone has differences and similarities. One similarity that everyone on earth has with each other is motives. Without realizing it we have many small things that motivate us to do certain things and without them we can get lost. In the story “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton there is a perfect example of this. Johnny is Dally’s only motive to live so when he dies Dally loses himself in his anger and makes the police kill him. It wasn’t just the end of the book that he was like this. He starts off really tough and angry at everything, and in the end he is controlled by his anger therefore he never changed. This makes Dally a static character.

The Unforgettable Words

Author's Note: This is my response to "The Outsiders" for Main Idea/Topic.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy.” Johnny said these words to Ponyboy in his dying breath hoping that he would not lose his innocence. This saying relates back to the poem that Ponyboy recited on page 69 of The Outsiders book,

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then the leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

 To me this poem shows that eventually everyone loses their innocence.  Johnny knew that he Ponyboy could but he didn’t want him to lose his innocence, he did not want Ponyboy to become the stereotypical greaser, firm and unloving. Dally became this when he went to jail because he everyone in jail is really tuff and firm and it did not allow him to enjoy life anymore. Johnny and Ponyboy were different and Johnny didn’t want him to change. They always thought of other people before themselves as they did when they saved the little boys burning in the church. Johnny killed himself to save little the children, no one else would've ever done this, not on purpose at least. Going back to the original phrase "Stay gold Ponyboy" it makes me realize what the main theme of the book really is; the loss of innocence within the two different cliques. These unforgettable words that Johnny recited to Ponyboy in this devastating moment are one of the many things that he will never forget about Johnny's personality.

As The Years Go On

People don’t get to choose their groups, you are born into them. Cherry Valance is a perfect example. She was born into the soc group but it doesn’t seem like she wants to be there. Over a period of time she will start to drift away from her soc friends and start to hang out with the greasers.  My reasoning behind this prediction is that she doesn’t seem to like being a soc. She doesn’t judge the greasers like everyone else. . I think she will eventually “jump” groups and become a greaser. After this happens I think that her and dally will start to date. I think this will happen because her soc friend starts to judge him because she “heard” stuff about him but she doesn’t seem to mind. Then later that night she told Ponyboy that she might be in love with Dally. This will not happen in just a few days though; I think this will happen over the next few years of her life. It was never her choice to be a soc.