Jeff Bussey In Harold Keith's Rifles For Watie

Jeff Bussey, the lead character from Harold Keith’s Rifles for Watie, can produce many different thoughts. Jeff is growing up in the Civil War. (Keith.) Not only is the boy growing up during this time, but he is also part of the action in the war, particularly in the Midwest (Keith.) Because of Jeff’s many different choices and actions, he had the greatest impact. Harold Keith portrays Jeff as someone with courage to join the war, but there was more to the boy. His concerned, strong, and dedicated nature created an interesting and very relatable character. One aspect about Jeff is what he looks like. Keith describes Jeff as not being the tallest of teenage boys, but his height does appear to have benefits. For example, there is one point in the story where Jeff’s height is relied on to obtain some watermelons (Keith.) Clearly, the boy’s height works out pretty well in certain cases. The illustration on the front of the book, which was created by Michael Garland, offers a clearer image of Jeff. He is depicted as a boy with brown hair, white skin, somewhat of a rosy skin complexion, and what appear to be dark blue eyes. He really does not look that different from a regular teenage boy. It seems that …show more content…
Jeff was an ideal soldier. Keith makes it easy to understand that Jeff is ready to do what he has to do. Jeff may not approve of some of the things the Americans did during the war, but his obedience to them would not end. In a war, it is very obvious that the worst side of humans can be unleashed. They tend to act incredibly violent and without conscience. All they want to do is fight. With Jeff, however, things are different. Keith demonstrated that Jeff was filled up with a desire for violence, but he still respected other humans, especially when they were in need. In the end, the point of this is to recognize the good in humans and do what is