The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War - Analysis

Book by Michael Shaara, 1987

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[ANALYSIS]

   The book, The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, goes through the book and elaborates on the personal thoughts of the characters, one of the reasons the book is so impressive compared to other historical fiction books, possibly even regular novels. The Killer Angels follows these characters, who were living, breathing, real people once, in the flesh, and the book makes their long-past emotions and opinions into our world today once more.

   Analysis of Characters: The Killer Angels, with its ability to tag along with both sides of the Battle of Gettysburg, elaborates a little bit more onto the individual feelings of the generals and high-ranking officers of both sides, how even with a single, defined action, there were controversies and conflicts of interest. With the fateful Pickett's Charge, General Lee ordered the charge, but Longstreet disagreed, as this was suggesting they do what they had failed to do hours earlier with less troops. Though they went through with the idea, there was the conflicts of interest within the decision: "'Sir' He shook his head, groping for words. Lee waited. 'Sir, there are some things I must say.'... 'Sir, my two divisions, Hood and McLaws, lost almost half their strength yesterday. Do you expect me to attack again that same high ground which they could not take yesterday at full strength? With so many officers lost? Including Hood?' Lee was expressionless. The eyes were black and still." (Shaara 302) General Longstreet, Lee's second-in-command, disagrees with Lee on the tactics of the Confederacy, this included, along with how this warfare should be executed, in offensive or defensive warfare, for example. This similarly happened with the Union.

   I infer, that although it doesn't directly state it, Longstreet is worried about his ability to lead these men to their death. He begins to lose control of himself, subtly: "What was needed now was control, absolute control. Lee was right about that: a man who could not control himself had no right to command an army. They must not know my doubts, they must not. So I will send them all forward and say nothing, absolutely nothing, except what must be said. But he looked down at his hands. They were trembling." (Shaara 311) I infer that Longstreet likely had thoughts of his own ability to lead these men, as he withheld the fact that he had trouble controlling himself.



   During the famed Pickett's Charge, Lewis Armistead was focused upon, as he was among the ragged remains of the broken-up army. In the charge, he figured he had left his mark on this Earth and had already sent a package to the opposing general's wife (both of which he'd been old friends with). With the rest of his life in minutes, Armistead decides to climb upon the enemy wall. "...no Rebel yell now, no more screams of victory, the men falling here and there like trees before an invisible ax yo could see them go down one by one and in clumps...started screaming, follow me, follow me, and began the long fast walk toward the ridge. No need for hurry now, too tired to run, expecting to be hit an any moment...Armistead thought: we won't make it. He lifted the sword again, screaming, and moved on, closer, closer, but it was all coming apart. The whole world was dying." (Shaara 347) Armistead believed he was done, he was going to die, and he knew the only thing he could do was to keep going.

   I inferred that with Armistead's fairly traumatic situation of watching his friends and comrades die, he became disconnected from himself. "And then he was hit, finally, in his side, doubling him. No pain at all, merely a nuisance. He moved toward a cannon the boys had just taken. Some blue troops had stopped near the trees above and were kneeling and firing; he saw their rifles aimed at him. Too weary now... He saw again, a bloody tangle, men fighting hand-to-hand. An officer riding toward him; there was a violent blow... a sense of great peace." (Shaara 348-9) Armistead had experienced a feeling of knowing he will die here, on this day and hour, and became detached from himself. I infer this was common with the Civil War, especially since old friends will likely be fighting each other.




   Analysis of Conflict: Michael Shaara, the author, used both internal and external conflict in his book. With external conflict, which should be rather obvious considering the nature of the book, the Union, specifically the Army of the Potomac, and the Confederacy, the Army of Virginia, fought each other over the course of three days, four with the minor battle on July 4th, the symbolic finale of one of America's most important battles. "Here he had a few hundred. To the right Kemper's brigade had broken, but some men still fired..." (Shaara 348) The external conflict of the story is mostly based upon the battles and the shots fired.

   The internal conflict is the attention on the viewpoints of the officers and soldiers detailed in the book. The book emphasized that there's no one right way to do something, as oftentimes all choice will be limited to choosing the choice that will send the least men to their deaths while simultaeneously achieving the best possible tactical outcome. "Dear God, let it end soon. Now he must focus his mind on the war. Alternatives? Any real choice here? Move on, to higher ground in another place. Or stay and fight. Well if we stay, we must fight. No waiting. We will never be stronger." (Shaara 280) In this, Lee, the most beloved figure [arguably] in the Battle of Gettysburg, is attempting to decide his next course of action, which may determine the outcome of the battle and which will put the least amount of soldiers into harm's way.

   Both conflicts are emphasized nearly the same; internal and external conflicts are both heavy parts of the book, and are both frequently excerised with their role in the book. There is very little room to improve upon the capitalization of either type of confict.