Knowing what one believes and values is a crucial part of life if one will be fighting and potentially sacrificing everything for that cause. Being able to determine when to get personally invested in a fight, and for what reason, is an essential life skill that everyone should know how to do. Authors and directors have expressed this theme in many works of literature and film throughout time. One novel specifically, Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, follows the life of a young soldier, Joe, who physically lost a lot due to war. While Joe is hospitalized and stuck inside his own mind, he realizes he doesn’t know what he was fighting for or why he risked his life. On the other hand, in the 1965 film, Shenandoah, Charlie Anderson, a father
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Charlie is a very strong main character, whose values and beliefs are made very clear throughout the film. Charlie does not want himself, or his sons getting involved in the war, because he knows it is not his fight. At one point in the film when a lieutenant is talking to Charlie about sending his sons to war, Charlie says, “my corn I take seriously, because it's mine. And my potatoes and tomatoes and my fence I take note of because they're mine. But this war is not mine so I won't take note of it” (Shenandoah). This shows how confident Charlie is about remaining out of the war because it does not directly affect him. The war has nothing to do with the Anderson family, therefore Charlie is certain that there is no reason for his family to get involved. It is only when Charlie's son, Boy, is mistaken as a Confederate soldier and taken prisoner that makes Charlie engage in the war activities. He is now personally affected by and involved in the war, which gives him the motive to get involved in war. Charlie values his family more than anything, and will risk his life if it means protecting his family and keeping everyone
Charlie is a very strong main character, whose values and beliefs are made very clear throughout the film. Charlie does not want himself, or his sons getting involved in the war, because he knows it is not his fight. At one point in the film when a lieutenant is talking to Charlie about sending his sons to war, Charlie says, “my corn I take seriously, because it's mine. And my potatoes and tomatoes and my fence I take note of because they're mine. But this war is not mine so I won't take note of it” (Shenandoah). This shows how confident Charlie is about remaining out of the war because it does not directly affect him. The war has nothing to do with the Anderson family, therefore Charlie is certain that there is no reason for his family to get involved. It is only when Charlie's son, Boy, is mistaken as a Confederate soldier and taken prisoner that makes Charlie engage in the war activities. He is now personally affected by and involved in the war, which gives him the motive to get involved in war. Charlie values his family more than anything, and will risk his life if it means protecting his family and keeping everyone