Michael Shaara's fictional novel, The Killer Angels, is based on the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. The novel allows the reader to recognize the heart and courage of the more than two million men that fought in the war. Shaara focuses the reader to better understand the reason why these men fight and the meaning of the war. Ultimately, the reader observes that the war is fought on an individual level as much as a governmental level. These men are there to fight for what they believe is truly right. The Confederates fought for their rights to hold slaves, their freedom tyranny of the Federal Government, and their independence from the Union. The Federal soldiers fought for the Preservation of the Union, the freedom of black men, and the Constitution's integrity. In this is book the reader is able to perceive the human element of battle that creates a very unpredictable outcome. Factors of humanity, such as friendships, sense of character, conflicts and brotherhood, play an important part in making the war. The friendship between Confederate General Lewis Armistead and Union General Winfield Scott Hancock has an effect on their fighting. Garn

ett's sense of honor effects his psychological outlook on the battle and how he is to fight. The Chamberlains are two brothers in the Twentieth Maine of the Union Army. Both men are constantly looking out and worrying about the other. The men of the Second Maine are men who have a conflict with the government that turns them off to the war. All these factors show that American Civil War, in some cases, fought on an individual level as well as for the government.

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Lieutenant Thomas Chamberlain are brothers from the state of Maine. They are both fighting the war because both have yearned to be soldiers. Tom Chamberlain is a distraction to his older brother Lawrence. The Colonel feels that he is responsible for his little brother and his mother is looking to him to bring Thomas back home. At Little Round Top, Lawrence gave Tom the order to "get back at rear..." so that both of them are not at the same place so that both of them will not die at the same time if a situation occurs. Another time Lawrence tells Tom, "You stay down, boy." Lawrence knows that he must protect Tom, which is favoritism towards his brother that we would not have for his other men. Colonel Chamberlain is aware that it is not good to have a brother fight you in the war, after seeing Tom come up in smoke with a ripped coat he thought to himself "no good to have a brother here. Weakens a man." Lawrence's familiar instinct has caused him to be distracted and not fight the war in complete co

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Approximate Word count = 1024
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)