Struggles Through Similarities

Authors note:

This piece is a comparison between a book and a movie that talk about the Revolutionary war. While reading this please look for my use of descriptive use of vocabulary. 

The Revolutionary War was a immense time for people of all walks of life.  Especially for the people that are part of the continental army, the militia army, and their families. I have recently read an excellent and insightful book called The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi and watched the movie The Patriot by Roland Emmerich. The movie and the book were similar in many ways such as rebelation, and fighting, but they were also fairly different.

In the movie The Patriot, Benjamin is a single father of seven but oldest son, Gabriel, goes off to war without the blessing of Benjamin (Emmerich). Likewise in the book The Fifth of March,  Rachel Marsh who is nanny to John and Abigail Adams' children and also a patriot meets a solder by the name of Matthew, but she like Gabriel, disregards the awfully important and smart warnings of their parental figures and does whatever they wish (Rinaldi).

The book and the movie the kids should have took their parental figures advise because while Gabriel and Rachel sneak out there ate many dangerous things that happen. In the book there are various times when the church bells rang for a riot; people were throwing rocks and stones at the soldiers from inside their houses there was people yelling out their windows and then a riot was started and people started getting vicious (Rinaldi). In the movie the battles were taking place right in the town also.  After Gabriel was shot in a nearby town he hobbled to his family’s house where a fight broke out once Colonel Travington found out that Gabriel went home. As the war was raging on Gabriel and Benjamin had a front row seat sitting inside their house just 50 yards away from where the battle was going on (Emmerich). Having the battles right in your front yard would be very horrifying and shocking especially during the frightening time period of the Revolutionary War.

Although there was a lot of fighting in both the movie and the book, the ways of fighting only had a modest difference. In The Patriot there was a lot of the fighting and a lot of mind games involved; trying to sneak up of the other side and not get caught because the movie was taking place during the war. Unlike the book The Fifth of March because the book was taking place  before the war was started while the colonist were still upset because the British kept making more taxes to help pay for the French and Indian War. This made the battles more of a rage and more out of control because all the colonist were upset and were just trying to get the Red Coats back for all the taxes. While all this was going on a  supplementary amount of soldiers were showing up making the colonist upset to a greater extent.

As you can see this essay has shown many similarities and differences between The Patriot and The Fifth of March. Although these two books take place during two different time periods the themes are many the same. Even if in The  Patriot there are many more deaths, the drive for both sides to win is very apparent. In The Patriot the colonist could have given up but they didn’t and it paid off so always go after what you want and you just might get it. 

Never Give Up

Theme Essay

Courage,  the mental or moral strength to persevere, and to withstand danger, fear, or difficulty; to keep going even in a daunting situation.  Determination, the firm or fixed intention to achieve something, the will to keep going during the tough times (Merriam-Webster). These are only two of the countless themes that are in millions of books across the globe including the book Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

During the beginning of the book you can really see the courage shining through. Rosealeen, a larger black caregiver poured black tar all over the biggest racist in town and he got her arrested then she was put in jail. After that Lily, a young lady who gets abused by her dad after her mom died at a young age, showed tremendous bravery when she broke Rosaleen out of jail. Once they are free they both have the courage to run away from the house that was filled with dreadful people and exceptionally bad memories. Courage is all around.

There are many examples of courage in Secret Life of Bees likewise there are other books with this same theme. In My Sisters Keeper Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can fight the leukemia that has overwhelmed her since childhood. At age 13 Anna decides to show great strength and courage when she puts her foot down doing something that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and perhaps have fatal consequences for the sister she loves so dearly to her heart.

Although courage is important we would have no need for it without the determination to accomplish a task. When Lily runs away with Roseleen she shows the determination to break free from the house that was filled with anger, frustration, abuse, and many other things. Once Lily runs away she shows tremendous determination to find out the secrets to her mother's past.

Without the determination of Lily and Rosealeen in the book Secret Life Of Bees the plot would be flat and boring, this is also true for the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The books are about the adventures of a wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry shows remarkable determination on his quest to overcome the Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, whose goal is to conquer the wizarding world, control all non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter.

There are numerous different themes in the book Secret Life of Bees including determination and courage.  When a child takes their first steps, finally walking alone it is a huge step on the ladder of life, they had to show great determination and courage to get up off their stomach and see life from a whole new perspective. This just goes to show you that determination and courage is everywhere and is in everyone.