Struggles and Battles

Author’s Note: I wrote this to demonstrate my knowledge of compare and contrast. This is about the similarities and differences in the book, Sarah Bishop, and the movie, The Patriot.

Imagine growing up or living in the time of the Revolutionary war. The characters from the movie, The Patriot, lived and fought in the Revolutionary war, and the character Sarah from the book, Sarah Bishop, by Scott O’dell, grew up during the time of the Revolutionary War. The movie The Patriot is about a father and his son, Gabriel who joins the militia to fight against the king for freedom, and how they fight the war side by side. The book Sarah Bishop is about a young girl who is growing up in the time of the revolutionary war. Her brother and father are killed, and she is being tracked for a crime she didn’t commit so she flees and hides in a cave in the woods. There she learns to live on her own and off the land. The book, Sarah Bishop and, movie, The Patriot, both talk a lot about how war affected their families, and the weapons mentioned are very similar, also they are very different because of the perspective of the war shown.

One important similarity between the book and movie, is how the war effected the characters families. For example Sarah’s father was murdered because he was a proud loyalist and so patriots came and burned down their home and covered her dad in tar and feathers, which ended up killing him. Also Sarah’s brother enlisted in the war and was captured and killed, which left her all alone and without any family. This quote really shows how Sarah felt after she found out that both her father and brother died, “I felt little, only lost, lost and alone.” Not only did the war effect Sarah’s family but it also effected Benjamin from the patriot. Due to the war his second oldest son was shot and killed by a German soldier. Then by the end of the movie his oldest son, Gabriel was stabbed and killed in battle. How the war effected the characters families is one of the biggest similarities between the book and movie.

Not only was how the war effected the families of the characters a huge similarity between the book and movie, but the  weapons were also very similar. In the book, Sarah Bishop, Sarah’s musket is her main weapon that she took everywhere she went, it was also her only source of protection. The quote, “That was the way I looked at the musket now — as a companion,” really shows how important this gun was to Sarah. Similarly, Benjamin and many men fighting in the war in, The Patriot, carried their muskets almost everywhere they went and fought many battles with them. This proves how important and common muskets were in both The Patriot and Sarah Bishop.  

Although there were many similarities between, The Patriot and Sarah Bishop, there was also a very significant difference between the two. This difference is the perspective shown from the two stories. In Sarah Bishop the perspective is  shown from a young girl, who due to the war has no family and is just trying to escape all the fighting that’s going on. Meanwhile in The Patriot, the perspective is from a grown man who is fighting for freedom from Britain. Not only that but he also is trying to keep his son safe and trying not to let him end up like his now dead oldest son. That is one of the biggest difference between The Patriot and Sarah Bishop.

As you can see there are many similarities along with a very significant difference between, The Patriot and Sarah Bishop. While reading, Sarah Bishop and watching The Patriot, I’ve noticed that people in that time have a lot of things in common, their struggles and way of life are very similar, but also peoples age and gender have a huge impact on what their life will be like.