The Fight

There are many different stories of the Revolutionary War.  Many people have written their own version of what happened, with each one having different plots and characters. However, the more you look into it, many stories do in fact have the same general idea. The movie The Patriot  and the book The Fighting Ground are very similar, yet also have their fair share of differences.

Both of the tales told make the authors interpretation of what they think happened in the war come alive. In the book The Fighting Ground, Jonathan would do anything to be able to fight in the war, but being only 13 years old, his parents tell him that it is not safe, and he is not old enough to do so. In the movie The Patriot, Gabriel is completely convinced that he will fight in the war, because his father was a war commander in the past. However, Gabriel’s dreams get crushed when his father tells him that there is no chance that he will fight, because he does not want to loose his son. Both stories have a character who wants to fight, yet is held back by their parents.

Not only do both characters want to fight in the war, both end up going behind their parents back, and sneakily sign up to fight.  Jonathan realizes that if he wants to fight, he will have to run away and sign up for the war himself. Gabriel’s story goes a little differently. He is 17 and can sign up no problem if he wanted to, however he had to make the heartbreaking decision to either follow his heart, or follow his dad. No matter how you look at it, both boys in the end go against their parents’ wishes and decide for themselves that fighting would be the best decision.

After signing up, the only thing left for both boys to do is fight. However, being young can cause problems in war. Inexperienced fighters are more likely to get killed or captured. And for both boys, getting captured was the case. Thinking he was being spied on by the Hessians, Jonathan was taken by the British, and held hostage. Gabriel was captured by the British and being taken with them. Both boys eventually found strength, and got out of this situation, yet the both were captured. The boys both were too young to be in the war, and both of their lives were risked.

I would argue that the book and movie are very similar, or at least these two characters are very similar. Yet, if we look at how the books end, you will see that the boys journeys end differently. Jonathan escapes from the British, and then that’s it. That story is over, however the movie goes on a little more. Gabriel still decides to fight, even after being taken, and in the end Gabriel gets killed. Though both tales seem so similar, they still end differently.

The Revolutionary War was a very hard, yet victorious time for our country. Families went through different troubles and hardships, with no two exactly the same. However I think that The Patriot and The Fighting Ground are two very similar stories that show how families do fight, and kids do rebel against their parents, because if you really want to fight – you will find a way.