Difference of War

Author's Note: This is a piece I wrote for Social Studies class intended to show the how even though the war was one, it can be viewed in different perspectives. The novel Woods Runner, and the movie The Patriot, show how The Revolutionary War can be viewed from multiple different situations.

Though the Revolutionary War was one war, many people visualize how the war happened in diverse perspectives. For example, in the movie The Patriot, the main plot is in the Revolutionary War and is shown up front with the main characters in an army form fighting the Red Coats. Whereas in the novel Wood's Runner, in the main plot, the main character sneaked his way through the war finding his kidnapped parents with no more than two people alongside him the whole expedition. These disagreeing aspects are only the beginning of the two different perspectives from the Revolutionary War. Adjoining that conflicting element, there is the difference of purposes, knowledge of the war, and the surroundings in which the main characters are used to.

The contrasted journeys that the two story lines went by began with a variation of intention. Throughout the novel Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen, the main character, Samuel, is searching for his parents who were trapped and being used as slaves for the Red Coats. Samuel's calling in this story is to rescue his parents and bring them back to the security of their hometown. On the contrary, the movie The Patriot, there were multiple people that were looking for their independence, and that was their motivation and hunger for the fight. Rather than chasing for parents or someone in particular, the colonists were on a quest to be the victor of their freedom. 

From the two different views of purposes, also notice the amount of knowledge on the war that the main characters have. Samuel, in the novel Wood's Runner, knew very little of the war and what was going on. Due to the fact that Samuel is from a wooded area and not near many houses, communication is limited and the war is less known in that area. The difference with the movie is that the main character was an adult, so he was more aware of the war and it's happenings. Not only did being an adult help, but the location of where they lived contributed to easier access to British updates.

Similar to where the knowledge of the main characters is coming from, there's also the factor of the surroundings that the main characters are living in. As mentioned previously, Samuel is searching for his parents coming from a thick forested area, where the communication is low, but adventure is unlimited. Furthermore, there was no say in whether the people of the forest wanted to go to war or not. Whereas in the film, colonists are constantly in communication. Additionally, the town that the movie was based off of decided whether or not to go to war, therefore they knew everything that was going on primarily only because they voted war or no war.

Although comparing the main topic is simple for the novel Wood's Runner and the movie The Patriot, being the American Revolution, the details to the different situations are mainly divergent. Overlapping the difference of purposes, amount of knowledge of the war, and the original surroundings of their homes, the contrasting components, are far greater than the comparing components in the novel and film. Perspectives on the war can be visualized in multiple ways, but the Revolutionary War is surely a war to remember.