The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

Recently, I have read a gripping and a very insightful short story called "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury, which tells the tale of a 14 year old boy named Joby, a drummer boy for the Union army caught in the Civil War. Joby is like the many men fighting under Ulysses S. Grant, hoping and praying that they’ll return to their family and friends safely. Through noticing these feelings and emotions in Joby and the soldiers, I began to interpret a theme that is very common in stories relating to war. Many if not all soldiers most likely wanted to return home to see their family and friends. This was most likely the case for the Confederate Army too. Both sides, didn't want to kill one another. Both sides, were afraid to die. In most dire situations such as war, both groups of people in this case the Union and the Confederates are more alike then they are different.

In the climax of the story, Joby is contemplating his thoughts about the war and his family when General Grant walks up to him. He begins to tell Joby how both sides are hoping for the same thing to occur. He says, “Both sides figuring the other will just give up.” Both the Union and the Confederate Army desired the same thing which was for one side to retire and for the war to end. The idea of two groups of people killing one another over a disagreement is immature. Grant continues his thoughts on the war by saying, “And the war done in weeks and us all home.” Family is another way that both the Confederate and Union army are very similar rather than they are different. Many if not all soldiers in the war wanted to reunite with their family safely. The families of the soldiers too were worrying whether or not a brother, cousin or other loved one would return.

At first Joby is afraid. He is all alone among the other groups of soldiers. One reason is because he is a drummer boy without any weapon or shield to protect himself. Joby believes that sooner or later he'll die. However, General Grant sees Joby’s purpose completely differently. He believes that Joby is the one who leads the army. He believes that every time the stick hits the drum he puts a piece of steel on every soldier. He believes that without Joby beating a steady upbeat rhythm, the Union Army would surely lose. Grant then says, “So there you are, that’s it. Will you do that, boy? Do you know now you’re general of the army when the general’s left behind?” Inspired by General Grants words he overcomes his fear of dying and prepares to become the Drummer Boy of Shiloh that Grant wants. Maybe there was a drummer boy fighting with the Confederates as well. Maybe he too was wondering about his family and maybe he was overcoming his fear of death like Joby. So maybe in dire situations it is others going the same problems that help us manage and cope with the same issues.

Romance and War

Suddenly having interest in classical books I searched on the internet, "Top 100 Classical Books." As I went through the list I found "Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway in the top ten. Previously reading "The Old Man and The Sea", another classic by Hemingway I decided to pick it up at my local library. After all it was a "Gripping war story." However, after a few chapters in I realized that although the story was based during the first world war, the book primarily focused on the romance between Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American working for Italy's army, and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse. Even though it was a romance novel it was still gripping. And romantic books are just not my genre. So why am I drawn to this book? There's only one answer, the author had a writing technique.


One thing I noticed from both of Hemingway's books was that most of his sentences are very long. This, depending on the reader, could either make the book more interesting or very slow. Another technique that made me personally more entertained was his use of dialogue. Particularly in the beginning of the book, there was quite a lot of dialogue. With short lines and constant questions from each character you can't resist to keep reading. For example, when Frederic and Cathy first begin to date they often questioned one another as they were suspicious of one another, not knowing anything about one another other than they were fighting on the same side. As well as long sentences and short dialogue Hemingway used descriptive language. For example, "In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels." As I continue the book I look forward to finishing it and finding out what happens and what other techniques Ernest Hemingway uses.

A Very Emotional Book

Over the summer, I was fortunate to stumble upon a book that would later move me quite drastically, in a good way. In the dual-narrative book, A Long Walk to Water, written by Linda Sue Park, Nya and Salva are two relatively young children growing up in the same country. However, there always comes a twist with a dual-narrative. Salva, is growing up in 1985, while Nya is placed in the year of 2008. Little did they both know that one day they would meet each other and both their lives would be changed forever. During the 1980's, many countries in Africa had revolutions. Many citizens were frustrated with their country's dictator.Unfortunately for Salva the war would separate him and his family, for over a decade. For many years, Salva wandered from refugee camp to refugee camp all over Ethiopia and Sudan, until Salva met an American, volunteering at a camp who became friends with Salva. When the American told Salva that the camp was sending over 3,000 refugees to America, and that Salva was one of them, Salva instantly burst into tears. In NY where Salva was adopted by foster parents and was taken good care of. But there was one thing, that Salva couldn't get off his mind, his family back in Sudan. But Salva wants to give back to Sudan, so he raises money to help people in Sudan like Nya, who have to walk to a dirty pond that's a couple miles away twice a day, everyday for the whole year. With tickets payed by his foster parents, and money raised to help families get clean water, Salva heads off to Sudan. In the end, Nya and Salvas family, as well as many other Sudanese people were helped by Salva and his organization called Water for Sudan.

While reading the book, I noticed a theme that's very common in many war stories. That war is absurd. The idea that two people or two groups of people killing each other over a difference between the two is mind boggling. In the end, killing someone or many people over a disagreement does not help anyone. Many citizens of Sudan wanted freedom from their government. That's what started the war in the first place. Why fight and kill someone when there is such an easier way of dealing with these situations. Obviously, both sides, in this case Sudans government and the citizens would probably be willing to give the other side something that they wanted. For example, the citizens could agree that they would move South (at the time Sudan was divided into two parts. The North which was where Sudans government was based and the South, where many poor citizens lived) so that the government could have more. In return Sudan could have given Southern Sudan independence. With a little negotiating an agreement like this could have prevented the war long before it started.