The two text I studied this year are “Soldier Boy” written by Anthony Hill, along with “I had seen castles” written by Cynthia Rylant. “Soldier Boy” is a biography on the youngest known ANZAC James Martin, he was just fourteen when he died on the shores of Gallipoli. “I had seen castles” is a book written by a female author about John Dante during the Second World War. Both Protagonists are obvious male but James is only fourteen while John binds his time and joins at eighteen. Their experiences in war had many similarities and differences the reader would expect from their different ages and the different wars. James Martin died at the tender age of fourteen, while John lived on to become what he had once called an old man. There is also a variety of contrast between the authors and there styles.

The on coming of war was all that fourteen-year-old boys needed to let their imagination run wild. Jumping in and out of trenches with their guns firing at the enemy or diving out of planes and landing behind enemy lines were all the dreams of the young boys. None of them would be James Martin the

The protagonists in these books were involved in two different World Wars but the objective was the same, to kill the enemy. Both protagonists thought they were invincible, “Death on the battlefield comes for somebody else.” James along with his fellow soldiers were going to get a wake up call into the real world. At Gallipoli the platoon James was in was to replace the worn out veterans, there james had his first glimpse at war, “these Anzacs were thin – shrunken, almost – as if they’d been worn down to their essential selves.” Looking at the soldiers James held a deep respect for the veterans, “he couldn’t get over his sheer admiration for what they had achieved.” The same feelings are reflected in “I had seen castles”, John’s first experienced the reality of war when his friend Tony died, but was unable to accept war did kill and labeled Tony as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He held fast to his belief that “we can clean up the enemy and have our chicken parmigiana another night.” It wasn’t until he was at the battlefield that John saw different, not until he saw the men who were coming back from war, “They were bloodied, dirty and haunted.” But it wasn’t until John was a real soldier that he truly found the respect him should have had, “we all wanted to live.” Event with the wars twenty years part the feelings are much the same.

It was the year 1914, it was the year of James’s thirteenth birthday, it was the year that the Great War would shock the world. It was no surprise that James would try and join the army, he and his father shared the same enthusiasm, “full of the latest war news and pictures. James and his father talked of little else...” The two men in the Martin family shared each other’s sense of adventure, “Jim wagged school that day,to see the march with Charlie.” A dad and his son both wagging work and school to see the march to war. The war march had further reinforced the idea in both men that one day they would fight in the Great War. “‘You should have seen it Mum!’ The boy’s voice breaking with emotion.” That was James’s boyish way of expressing himself after the par

Some topics in this essay:
World War, World Wars, James Charlie, James Turks, James Martin, Dad I’ll, John Dante, America Neanderthals, Ginny Ginny, Cynthia Rylant, “i seen, seen castles”, “i seen castles”, “soldier boy”, james martin, castles” written cynthia, son james, tony died, fourteen john, junior cadets, written cynthia, written cynthia rylant, friend tony died, seen castles” written, castles” written,