The South vs. the Stryker's

The South vs. the Stryker’s

Authors note: Most people say the climax is the most important part of a story but for every climax there is a cause for it; I feel that the cause of the event is the most important part of a story.

In The Last Full Measure, Tacy Stryker is facing the most challenging part of her life as the armies of the North and the South collide in her hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She is desperately worried about her two older brother and father, who are all on the battlefield --- her father as a doctor and her brothers as soldiers.

Weeks go by without any word; she doesn’t know if her father and brothers are dead or alive. Meanwhile at home Tacy, her mother and older brother are eating dinner, in dead silence. Suddenly there was a big banging noise at the door. Her brother David jumps up quickly and goes for his gun, Tacy and her mother run down to the cellar. The banging continues! David finally opens the door. It was their oldest brother who was a soldier. He was bruised and badly hurt. “What happened to you?” David asked him as he cleaned his wounds. “They caught me and tried to kill me.” This is what he told David.

The next day David set out to find the ones that did this to their brother. He found some soldiers from the south and decided follow them. There were two guys; they noticed David following them. They didn’t have their guns with them, so they could shoot David. They turned to see David behind them and began yelling. David and the soldiers get into a quarrel. The soldiers leave, only to get their guns and more soldiers. David did not go home instead he decided to take a walk. Later that day those same soldiers spotted David walking; they rounded up two more soldiers and followed David home. About ten-minutes after David was in the house the soldiers made their entrance. Once they were in the house they ordered Tacy and her mother to make them a nice dinner and serve them. Meanwhile they have a free black living with them they tried to hide her but the soldier found her anyways. The soldiers took the free black girl; they were going to put her in slavery in the south.

Their brother getting hurt and David’s actions caused the soldiers from the south to come to their home, and basically own it for a while. After the soldiers took the little girl her mother was very upset. David realized that trying to get revenge on someone who is much stronger and he could not fight alone was a bad idea. David wanted to make things right. He got the soldiers to leave his home. Before they took the girl to the south David found her and brought her back to her mother.

As you can tell the most important part of this book was the cause.