The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

In "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh," by Ray Bradbury, Bradbury shows that in war, the opposing sides often resemble each other more than they think they do.

In the story, each side is assumed by Joby, the drummer boy, to be lying awake, baseless, wishful thoughts of themselves emerging victorious and intact from battle. Even though there was a great possibility that any one of the soldiers could die, each one was clinging to the hope that they wouldn't be the one to perish. " 'Me, I'm the one, I'm the one of all the rest who won't die. I'll live through it. I'll go home. The band will play and I'll be there to here it,' " is what Joby assumes they are thinking. This excerpt suggests that all the soldiers are united in their blind hopes. Both armies are naive about the costs and perils of warfare—they are young and inexperienced. " 'There's your cheek fell right off the tree overhead. And the others here, not much older. Raw, raw the lot of you,' " said the general. This conveys that the armies were comprised mostly of innocent not yet matured young men.

Another similarity between the two armies is their motivation for fight: most of the initiates joined in a burst of patriotism, focused solely on defending their country and it's honor. Many ran away to fight for their home. "[The soldiers were] compounded of remote but none the less firm and fiery family devotion, flag-blown patriotism, and cocksure immortality," Joby's thoughts portray the boys and men becoming soldiers as rash confident decisions in the heat of visions involving fighting for and bringing honor too one's country. " 'But here we are, taken with spring fever and thinking its blood lust, taking are sulphur with cannons instead of with molasses as it should be,' " the general stated, making it known that he thinks the soldiers in both armies have gone to war in a too hasty rush of confidence, and should have been at home enjoying the spring, instead of running in to battle and facing what could very well be their end.

Opposing armies can be very alike in warfare. Both sides are made up of people. As people, we often share similar emotions and situations. I think that this is usually true in war. We are all human, and sometimes we disagree. I think that settling matters by warfare only creates more feelings of discord, and creates a bigger rift between groups than settling the issue nonviolently. Often times, opposing sides are made out as very different from one another, because it would be very difficult to do battle with someone you can identify with. If you were able to see yourself in them, it would make it much harder to view them as monsters you must slay. Bradbury shows that we are not always so different from the people we wish ill.