Midway Review: The Killer Angels

            I’d just like to start off by saying how much I thoroughly enjoy this book.  I was hoping that I would like it, and it is definitely not a letdown.  The story, from a distance, is fairly simple: the Confederate soldiers fight the Union soldiers at Gettysburg during the Civil War.  The battles (positions of soldiers, locations of fights, timeframe, outcomes) are straightforward and irrefutable; they happened, and that’s that.  Still, Shaara has done a great job making the “factualized” bits interesting.  There are still elements of suspense, and since the premise of the novel is based on a few battles, picking out the rising action, climax, and resolution isn’t too difficult.

            What I was not expecting, and what has made this book absolutely fantastic, was the philosophical aspect woven so beautifully into the narrative.  I mentioned before some elements of a good story, but I left out characters.  They belong in the following section where I really get into the best part of the story.

            For those of you who are reading this post but don’t know a whole lot about me, I live in the Northeast.  When I picked up this novel, my natural inclination was to side with the Union.  I’ve been raised in a certain environment, and before this book if you had asked me about each side’s motives and where I would align myself, I wouldn’t have thought twice: the Union (duh).  And I don’t think that when I finish this book I’ll suddenly march into the South and wrap myself in a Confederate flag.  But I have definitely been forced to think more than twice about how each side had legitimate and understandable motives.

            The beauty of this story is that Shaara doesn’t just write about the objective components of a war (there are weapons, there are skirmishes, there are winners, losers, survivors and victims).  He delves into certain characters’ perceptions, the subjective reality that makes fighting against your brothers and fellow citizens so difficult.  Shaara doesn’t side with the Union or with the Confederates.  He adopts a different voice for all of the main characters, giving a uniquely crafted insight into the battles from both sides.

            To quote Chamberlain’s thoughts (really Shaara’s interpretation of the situation) on what it must have been like for a black man to be surrounded by white soldiers, “What did he know of the war?  And yet he was truly what it was all about.  It simplified to that.  Seen in the flesh, the cause of the war was brutally clear” (171).  It’s powerful, and it reinforces the narrative that I have heard since I was a child.  The Union was fighting, in part, for freedom for all.  And because I definitely don’t believe in slavery, this wasn’t new.  What was interesting was the way Shaara still described the Union as being ignorant and curious; they were just as equally fighting to prevent secession.

            When Lee takes over the narrative, Shaara continues to do a great job finding a perspective that is hard to disagree with; “This is the great battle.  Tomorrow or the next day.  This will determine the war.  Virginia is here, all the South is here” (144).  It’s not hard to feel the pressure, and while the South did have more slaves than the North, it is also easy to see that the Confederates were fighting for what they believed in.  For a way of life.  For life.

            As an American, I’m no stranger to growing up in a society that trumpets the horn of democracy and justice loudly, and sometimes, obtrusively.  It is easy to see why Lee was so concerned, and this was not something I had anticipated understanding.

            There aren’t really any predictions I can make about the outcome of Gettysburg; there are fifty states in the United States, so, spoiler alert, the South did not secede.  What I don’t know is how the characters will react (at least, in this story).  Since most of the people are religious, serious, and formal, I imagine both sides will be diplomatic and appropriate when the battles finally come to a close (diplomatic after, of course, wrapping up the bloodiest battle on U.S. soil).

            Shaara incorporates literary elements such as voice and characterization masterfully into the novel to paint a clear, full picture that really makes you think.  I can’t wait to finish this story, and I am looking forward to reading Shaara’s way of concluding his illustration of defeat, victory, and, in general, a group of battles that re-cemented The United States of America.