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Why
is My Brother Sam is Dead Challenged
My
Brother Sam is Dead is challenged by individuals who have
not read it. If they read it, they would have a better understanding
of it and embrace it.
But
that's not the answer you have visited this page for... is
it? You want to know how and why the novel earned a top 10
listing on the American Way's most challenged book list in
1996.
The
book is challenged because it:
-
Contains profanity:
In reaction to being smacked in the head by Tim Meeker
as she tries to wrestle a letter away from him, Betsy
Read shouts "You Little Bastard!"
-
Contains excessive
violence: While observing the British army Tim Meeker
experiences the horrific beheading of a slave.
-
Mentions alcohol
consumption: The Meeker's own a Tavern.
- Contains unpatriotic
views of the American Revolution: The Meeker's are Anglican's.
In
response to these challenges let me point out that:
-
The book contains
profanity because the authors are trying to provide us
with a realistic portrayal of life during the American
Revolution. There were conflicting opinions and there
were heated discussions, during which, people actually
(gasp) swore at each other.
-
The violence
Tim experiences is in response to the British troops being
fired at. Four individuals take "pot-shots"
at the British Troops as they march by. The British respond
by rushing the house, subduing the individuals and locking
them in the basement. In the process one resists and is
decapitated. The British then set the house on fire. This
scene is historically correct. It happened, it
occurred in Danbury not Redding, but it did happen. The
point the authors were making here is that War is Cruel
and People Die. While I admit that the beheading is
a bit excessive for a children's novel it is not worthy
of censor.
-
Alcohol consumption
is no reason to censor a novel as important as My Brother
Sam is Dead. The Meeker's own and operate a Tavern. And
alcohol consumption by all, young and old, is also historically
correct. They all drank alcohol, honest, look it up.
- Contains unpatriotic
views of the American Revolution. This one is my personal
favorite. When Susannah Meeker states: "Bah, patriotism.
Your patriotism has got my husband in prison and one of
my children out there in the rain and muck shooting people
and likely to be dead any minute, and my business is half
ruined. Go sell your patriotism elsewhere, I've had enough
of it." she has had it. It's a response anyone of us would
have if we were placed in the same position.
Susannah Meeker has lost her husband, she's working 24/7
and being paid in currency that is literally worthless,
she is Anglican and doesn't want to be in this war to begin
with, she fears for her eldest son's life and knows that
her youngest son is being deprived of his childhood as he
tries to help her keep their business afloat.
The
topics covered in this book are important and well represented
historically speaking. Christopher Collier was Connecticut's
State Historian for a very long time, he knew the issues,
the localities, the facts. James Lincoln Collier wrote childrens
stories, he knew how to write in a way that captivated the
attention of young people. Between the two of them they were
very talented. What I love most about My Brother Sam is Dead
is it's realism. I was born and raised in Redding, Connecticut.
I know it's history well, and can tell you the Collier brothers
wove an amazing tale here and it should be embraced not censored.
Download a My
Brother Sam is Dead Parent Letter a 5th grade Teacher
sends out to parents each year.
Read
actual quotes from 6th graders that have read the book,
loved it and visited Redding to learn more about it:
"I would never think that Connecticut would
have that much interesting history! Thank you so much for
taking us through Redding, showing us the great locations
from My Brother Sam is Dead and answering our questions."
"What I learned while on this trip was
more about the characters, for example they said in the book
that Jerry was a 10 year old boy but he was really 19 and
we learned more about the huts they (the soldiers) slept in.
Also I saw what we read in the book. I thought that was very
cool!!"
The
novel highlights many of the the problems and events that
impacted towns like Redding, CT. Several of these topics are:
-
Trying to
stay neutral while living in a town that everyone assumes
is a loyalist settlement. Redding's Anglican
church leader and its members preferred not to rebel from
England. This was well known across the State and resulted
in Redding Ridge being labeled as an area heavily settled
with loyalists/tories.
-
Currency
Issues-The Meeker's own a tavern/store, and keeping
it running is hard work. Even prior to the Revolution,
to make money, each year Tim's Father and brother Sam
would travel to New York State to sell cattle they received
from people who owed them money. During the war it becomes
even more difficult as paper money and commissionary notes
destroy local economies and businesses.
-
Sacrifices-
Since Sam has sided with the rebels and wasn't there,
Tim's responsibilities have increased ten-fold. Jobs Tim
and Sam used to share all now fall on Tim's shoulders.
Father (Life) takes Tim on his yearly cattle run to New
York. They have to travel without a Brown
Bess (musket/gun used for protection), which Sam had
recently stolen. Life is captured on their return trip,
leaving Tim to take care of his mother and himself for
the rest of the novel. Tim is forced to grow up over night
seeing he is now the man of the house, with his father
in prison and Sam fighting with the patriots.
-
Committees
of Safety- These committees were formed early in the war
to disarm people who could potentially give aid to the
British. Life is an Anglican and thus seen as a Loyalist/Tory,
by the local Committee of Safety which comes to the Meeker
Tavern to disarm him. When Life tells them his son has
sided with the Patriots and taken his gun, they initially
don't believe him and rough him up.
-
Cowboys
and Skinners- Life is captured on their way back to
Redding on their cattle run by cowboys. Cowboys and skinners
were groups of raiders who harassed and plundered the
rural districts of the boundary between American and British
forces in Westchester County, New York. Westchester County,
was the so-called "Neutral Ground" seeing the British
were in the Bronx and the Americans in Peekskill, New
York.
-
The British
march though Redding and capture several Patriots
there on their way to Danbury, CT to destroy the rebels/Patriot's
provisions of war which were being stored there. The Patriot
soldiers arrive in Redding in pursuit of the British and
Sam is with them so he gets to see his mother and Tim
again.
-
Winter
Encampments- General Israel Putnam's division of the
Continental Army encamped at Redding in the winter of
1778-1779 and Sam Meeker is a soldier in one of Putnam’s
camps. One evening, Sam slips away from camp and returns
home to spend time with his family. While they discuss
the war and related topics, Sam hears commotion outside…Patriot
soldiers are attempting to steal their cattle! When Sam
intervenes he is out numbered and beaten. Back at camp
he is falsely accused of and court-martialed for deserting
camp and stealing cattle. General Putnam having long dealt
with ill-equipped troops, deserters and traitors, feels
he needs to set an example in order to maintain discipline
amongst his army. Sam, unfortunately, becomes one of the
two examples that winter, and is executed.
-
Hardships of
War- Tim's Mother goes a little crazy due to the stress
of losing her husband and son to a war she doesn't support.
Tim lives to be very old. He had a wife, children, even
grandchildren. But his mother never recovers from Life
and Sam's deaths.
*Keep
in Mind: In 1885, The Public Library of Concord, Massachusetts,
banned Huckleberry Finn as "trash suitable only for slums."
Censors don't always know best, I urge you to read My Brother
Sam is Dead and come up with your own conclusions.
Download a My
Brother Sam is Dead Parent Letter a 5th grade Teacher
sends out to parents each year.
My
Brother Sam is Dead Dropbox Account
Word Document
that explains what is at the Dropbox: My
Brother Sam is Dead Dropbox
Photo Examples of the Dropbox:
My Brother Sam is
Dead Dropbox
Please feel
free to email me with any questions @ bcolley@colleyweb.com.
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