The Killer Angels
How would you feel if you were forced to go against your own friends and family simply because of belief differences? Beliefs so strong that you could possibly die or fight in war against one of them. This was a reality for the men in Michael Sahara's novel, "The Killer Angels." 'I used to command those boys...Difficult thing to fight men you used to command...Swore an oath too...But...couldn't fight against home. Not against your own family. And yet...we broke the vow.' " (p.191). Although I already knew what the outcome would be of the battle when I was done, this gave me a whole different view of it. The author provides an intense vision of what it was like to be there. Shaara finds time, among the strategies and tactics, to offer some insights into the nature of men (Killer Angels) and war. He offers that the war was fought because of a clash in cultures and that the Union Army fought, not for prize or conquest, but to make a people free. 'We are fighting for freedom from the rule of what is to us a foreign government.' (p. 65 & 66). But he also makes it clear that the Confederate leaders and soldiers also fought for their sense of freedom. The conflicts within men, who having vowed in
The novel is told with such force and clarity that the reader smells the gun smoke, "The smell of hot guns, of blasted earth, the sweet smell of splintered trees." (p.106), hears the rebel yells, feels the heat and desperation and experiences the exhaustion and relief of the Union troops when the day is finally won. His use of imagery makes us feel like we are there, watching the men. "Gray-green-yellow uniforms...Coming out of the green, out of the dark...They seemed to be rising out of the ground." (p.216). "He was a picturesque figure. He had not changed clothes nor washed nor shaved in a week. His blue pants were torn in several places and splotched with dried blood; his right boot was torn, his jacket was ripped at the shoulder, his sword was without a scabbard, was stuck into his belt." (p.305) This novel describes four days in Pennsylvania during the summer of 1863 in what many consider to be the turning point of the American Civil War. It was in July, that the North and South gathered near a small town called Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee, leading a proud, unbeaten Confederate Army north into Pennsylvania in the hope of destroying the Union Army by stimulating it into an attack. It concludes with General Lee leading his battered forces on a retreat south to the safety of Virginia after having lost thousands of men in furious assaults on Union positions. One of the reasons why I think this book was so widely read is the reader is not overwhelmed with military
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Approximate Word count = 1000
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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