FREE ESSAY ON ACROSS FIVE APRILS

ACROSS FIVE APRILS

Across Five Aprils
This Newberry award nominated book, written by Irene Hunt, tells the story of the "home
life" of her grandfather, Jethro, during the Civil War. Not only does it give a sense of
what it is like to be in the war but also it really tells you exactly what the men leave
behind. Jethro is forced to make hard decisions, and face many hardships a boy his age
shouldn't have to undergo. This is an admirable historical fiction book that leaves it up
to the reader to decide if being at home was the superior choice or if being a soldier in
the war was.
The setting of this book was especially essential to the plot. The story takes place in
Southern Illinois during the American Civil War, from April of 1861 to April of 1865,
hence the title Across Five Aprils. These Illinoisans were a scattered group of people
basically made up of women, men, and children who moved there from the south. This
created a lot of controversy when the Confederate states secede from the Union. Because
of their upbringing many families had fathers fighting sons and brother's fighting
brothers. The hostility in the towns in Illinois made even the best of friends become the
worst of enemies.
Characters also play a very important role in this book. Jethro Creighton is the main
character in the novel. He is the youngest in his family, a mere nine years old. He was
an intelligent boy who enjoyed reading and liked school very much. This probably had
something to do with the fact that Shadrach Yale taught his class. 
Mr. Yale Moved to Illinois from Philadelphia. Jethro listened to everything Shad taught
and told him. Shad admired Jethro's spirit and pleasure in learning. Although Shad liked
Jethro's company, he loved Jenny's even more. 
Jenny was Jethro's sister. She helped Jethro in the fields, and made dinner. Her and
Jethro shared basically everything including laughter. The only thing Jenny did not want
to share was her letters from Shadrach. Shad and Jenny were in love, and all Jethro had
to do was mention Mr. Yale's name and Jenny would blush. 
Although Jethro knew he could talk to Jenny about anything, he preferred confiding in his
brother Bill. Bill, like Jethro, liked school and had a love for learning. He took the
time and thought all his decisions out carefully. He always did what he thought was
right. Even if that meant that he would fight against Shad, his cousin, and even his
brothers in the American Civil War. He supported the Confederate states proudly.
This book is about how a family adjusts and basically survives during the Civil War.
Jethro, who is used to the company of his brothers and his cousin in the field, takes on
most of the chores around the house and the farming. All in all you could say that his
family was a Union supporter with the exception of Bill, who fought for the Confederacy.
Tom, Eb, Shad, and Jim all leave and fight for the Union. Even though more family members
are on the northern side, the people in the town consider everyone in the Creighton
family copperheads. They go as far as burning their barn down, and dumping oil in there
well. The rest of the story reveals who lives, who dies, and how the family deals with
each difficulty. 
The way Irene wrote the book was very appealing and it added to the story's historical
significance. She wrote it in the slang type of dialect that they used in that time and
place. She went on to include a letter that Jethro wrote the president, and the actual
letter that Abraham Lincoln wrote back. 
There were two major purposes that were made obvious while reading this book. The first,
and most important theme was one stating that families should stick together. This theme
was brought out several times during the story. The most obvious was when Jethro first
went to town and he was being told that his family was nothing more then copperheads
because of the choice only one of his brothers had made. Paraphrasing Jethro said
something to the affect of Bill is my brother; I don't know where he is or what side, if
any, he is fighting for but nothing will change the fact that he is my brother and I
support him in his every decision. Basically the other purpose was to tell her
grandfathers story. 
Across Five Aprils is a different twist on war a story. It is a good book that teaches
values that are important even in today's society. It asks the question again and again
is war really worth it?