My Brother Sam is Dead Pg 122-150

   By January of 1776, Tim has yet to see any actual fighting, but the effects of the war are becoming visible. Food and guns disappear quickly, and soldiers steal cattle all across the countryside, desperate to feed themselves and their troops. Tim says the worst part of the war is missing Sam, worrying about him, as envying him his glory. Tim realizes that in the eyes of a younger brother, everything an older brother does seems brave and grown-up, even milking the cow. Tim acknowledges that cow-milking was hardly glorious when his own turn came, and he wonders whether fighting in the war really is as glorious as it seems. Tim imagines himself on the battlefield and wonders which side he would defend.   One April day, Mr. Heron and Tom Warrups visit the Meeker tavern. Mr. Heron asks Mr. Meeker whether Tim would run an errand carrying some business letters for him. Mr. Meeker is immediately skeptical, but Tim volunteers enthusiastically, hoping for an ounce of his own glory so he can boast to Sam. Mr. Heron says everybody must make sacrifices for the war. Father says no, adding that he has already lost one son and refuses to lose another. When Mr. Herons, Father says that Mr. Heron is an ambiguous, shadowy political figure and that Tim ought not to get involved with him. Tim obeys, but for the next day he feels envious of Sam's glory and angry at Father for holding him back. He confronts Father and demands a chance to participate in the war effort and help either side—he doesn't even care which. Father says no and stands angrily, and suddenly he stops. Tim knows this is because Father drove Sam from the house by shouting, and does not want to drive Tim away too. Instead of shouting, Father asks Tim to stay uninvolved, and warns him of the prison ships into which the soldiers often throw children. Two weeks later, Tim and Jerry Sanford go fishing, and Tim plans to use fishing as an excuse to sneak away and run Mr. Heron's errands.  

   One of the most significant passages in the novel appears Chapter Four, when Tim uses his intimate knowledge of Sam to disarm him. Tim knows exactly how to handle his sleeping brother. Tim and Sam are bound by brotherhood, and it is disquieting to see that bond used by one brother to disarm the other. The authors seem to be pointing out that war forces brothers to turn against each other in desperation. Tim also plays on his brotherly knowledge of Sam to press the exact button—Sam's unwillingness to be thought a coward—that will coerce Sam into returning home to ensure that Father is left alive by the soldiers.