Wow.
The Killer Angels is one of
the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. Period.
This was an incredibly satisfying read, and Shaara was able to wrap it
up in a really sound, concise way, something that I was not sure could be
done. A lot of the loose ends were tied
up cleanly, and I really feel like he handled such a momentous defeat/victory
in a profound manner.
I would not consider myself a diehard
religious person because I don’t attribute everything to God. I don’t believe that there really is a God
that matches the faithful’s beliefs, and yet I found myself recognizing the
power that a God-like figure can have.
Even if there isn’t a God, the simple thought that there is one can be just
as dominant.
Most, if not all of the characters
credit God with the outcome of Gettysburg, highlighting the major dividing
point -- but also a similarity -- between the two sides. The war really happened because of
beliefs. Some were different, but every
religious figure believed in God with the same conviction and humility. Thus, Shaara used this commonality to bring
the story to a satisfying close. In the
end, the Confederates were still Americans, the same Americans under the same
sun as those sided with the Union. And
at the point that Gettysburg ended, while it was not the last battle of the
war, it foreshadowed a looming defeat that would reunite the States. Shaara could have ended the novel painting
the Union as the victors in an illustrious campaign, and the Confederates as
shaken, defeated rebels, but he brought everyone together by highlighting their
allegiance with a higher authority.
Armistead, a Confederate,
acknowledged that the final outcome “was all in God’s hands” (317). At the point that brothers were fighting
against brothers, friends against friends, colleagues against colleagues, anything
could have happened. It was reassuring
for the soldiers and generals alike to place the inevitable and fatal losses on
a singular, all-powerful entity. By
using God as a tool to bring both sides together, I felt reassured and
confident that Gettysburg -- and the Civil War in its entirety -- really did
leave America in a better place.
But it wasn’t easy. Yes, this is a cliché, that with success
comes pain and suffering, but this was a different kind of pain. Generals weren’t fighting against a definite
enemy. From Chamberlain’s perspective “It
was as if they were his own men who had come up the hill” (344).
This story does not have a definite
resolution. Sure, the South didn’t secede,
but geopolitically, economically, and socially, there is still a divide between
the North and South. But then again,
this story served the purpose of relating the process of reuniting, not of
modern fighting.
At the end of the day, I would
definitely recommend this book. Even if
you don’t like violence or war (I still don’t either) this book is much more
than an account of the bloodiest group of battles in U.S. history. It tells the story of America. And who doesn’t love America?
One
of the suggestions to spice up blog posts was embedding a reenactment of a
scene. I threw this
together rather hastily, but please enjoy!
The next book I will be reading is David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell. Check back for more reactions and analyses to
this and more books. Thanks for reading!
Wow, I love your analysis. The idea of the common religious belief is pretty interesting, as it seems like the we're taught it in school, the North and South were completely different. The fact that religion can be used as a common thing between people i also pretty interesting. I can't wait to see what you think of the Malcom Gladwell book.
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