The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

                            The Drummer Boy of Shiloh
                               By: Ray Bradbury


I have just finished the drummer boy of shiloh by ray bradbury. This story has a lot of poetry mixed into it, which makes it fun to read. It also has a lot of symbolic sentences. Some of the details are intense and nice to read. The author really describes the setting well. This book was a very melancholy and at the same time sweet story.

In the book there is the main character. His name is Joby. He is fourteen years old. Joby is the drummer boy in the battle of Shiloh. I think the author chose an interesting topic to write about. I think this because writing about a young boy in the war really shows the innocence and reality of what really went down in the war. Young boys really had to fight and risk getting killed. Some had no idea what they were even doing! When I think about what they had to go through it's extremely upsetting.

Ray Bradbury really used a lot of poetry. For example the sentence: "A moth brushed his face, but it was  peach blossom a peach blossom brushed his face but it was a moth. Nothing had a name. Nothing stayed put. Nothing was as it once was." That sentence I find to be poetic. It really makes you think about life itself. I think the main theme of this piece was poetry.

Another main part of this piece I think is symbolism. I think that this story has a lot of symbolism. One example of symbolism is the line: "Theres your cheek' fell right off the tree overhead" This sentence was from the General to Joby. I think the General is telling Joby that since he is a young boy his cheek is still soft because he doesnt shave yet. He is pointing out the fact that Joby is young and that war is a hard place for young boys. This sentence made me feel upset for Joby, like he was forced into war. Like he had no choice. Just like hundreds of boys his age.

In conclusion I think Ray Bradbury did a phenomenal job on this piece. This was definately worth reading. I would reccomend it and I'm sure other people would like it too!