He explains by saying, “My dad tried to raise us three- Percy, Adelaide, and me. We were real pals” (Solberg 2). His sister Adelaide explained the same, as well, in her section of the memoir. She notes, “We three were very close. When my mother was alive we were well cared for” (Solberg 5). This shows how close the three siblings are before Percy leaves to War. I personally think that when siblings are as close as the Solberg’s were, they tend to remain close throughout their lives. When one is missing, it is as if part of each of them is missing. I say this because I, myself have siblings and I feel this way when I’m away from them for a while and I’m assuming this is how they must’ve felt because it is clear that when Percy left, the separation is hard on all of them. Percy often starts off his letters with “My Own Dear Brother” (Solberg14) and he is often disappointed when he doesn’t receive mail. Throughout his training, Percy writes faithfully and acts as a father to the rest of the family. He Urges “Lory” to get more education and improve his spelling and also often advises him to take care of their sister, Adelaide, which doesn’t seem to be doing too well living away from their family in Chicago. The love he has for his family, is pretty visible by each and every letter he sends, as well as the amount of letters. He writes very often, every few days and clearly awaits the same in return from his brother. Percy seems to have a feeling that he won’t return back home, as he refers to it often in his letters and writes that he is happy that his younger brother will not be drafted. He writes, “Well dear boy I’m glad you have been exempted as I was worried about you. It would have been fierce if they had taken you away from your family. Just image thus what the poor devils in Europe must suffer and think how few of them ever return. With me, it is different, if I don’t come back there is no one to care much and my boy of course would never miss me” (Solberg 23). There is some bitterness in Percy’s letters, it is interesting to note that the family is so close and yet, there are walls between Percy and his son and his ex-wife Hattie Wenzel. It is sad to think the love he felt for his family did not extend to his son as well and that’s because of his divorce. It is clear he is bitter about that and so he pours out more love to his brother through his letters. I noticed that the longer Percy is away from home the more he misses it and he begins to reminisce about the good times he had with his brother Lawrence. He writes “I think of you often dear boy, our boyhood days at home- the many pleasant and unpleasant things that happened. How I wish we could live them over again- if only we
He explains by saying, “My dad tried to raise us three- Percy, Adelaide, and me. We were real pals” (Solberg 2). His sister Adelaide explained the same, as well, in her section of the memoir. She notes, “We three were very close. When my mother was alive we were well cared for” (Solberg 5). This shows how close the three siblings are before Percy leaves to War. I personally think that when siblings are as close as the Solberg’s were, they tend to remain close throughout their lives. When one is missing, it is as if part of each of them is missing. I say this because I, myself have siblings and I feel this way when I’m away from them for a while and I’m assuming this is how they must’ve felt because it is clear that when Percy left, the separation is hard on all of them. Percy often starts off his letters with “My Own Dear Brother” (Solberg14) and he is often disappointed when he doesn’t receive mail. Throughout his training, Percy writes faithfully and acts as a father to the rest of the family. He Urges “Lory” to get more education and improve his spelling and also often advises him to take care of their sister, Adelaide, which doesn’t seem to be doing too well living away from their family in Chicago. The love he has for his family, is pretty visible by each and every letter he sends, as well as the amount of letters. He writes very often, every few days and clearly awaits the same in return from his brother. Percy seems to have a feeling that he won’t return back home, as he refers to it often in his letters and writes that he is happy that his younger brother will not be drafted. He writes, “Well dear boy I’m glad you have been exempted as I was worried about you. It would have been fierce if they had taken you away from your family. Just image thus what the poor devils in Europe must suffer and think how few of them ever return. With me, it is different, if I don’t come back there is no one to care much and my boy of course would never miss me” (Solberg 23). There is some bitterness in Percy’s letters, it is interesting to note that the family is so close and yet, there are walls between Percy and his son and his ex-wife Hattie Wenzel. It is sad to think the love he felt for his family did not extend to his son as well and that’s because of his divorce. It is clear he is bitter about that and so he pours out more love to his brother through his letters. I noticed that the longer Percy is away from home the more he misses it and he begins to reminisce about the good times he had with his brother Lawrence. He writes “I think of you often dear boy, our boyhood days at home- the many pleasant and unpleasant things that happened. How I wish we could live them over again- if only we