The American Revolution is one of the first topics that we learn about in history. It was the climax of the colonies’ story; it was the first major turning point in the American tale. However, everything has a cause, and the American Revolution was no exception. It was thanks to the English king’s injustice that the United States today is an independent country. With his novel Rise to Rebellion, Jeff Shaara has attempted to bring his readers a view of this injustice from the perspectives of the rebellion’s most prominent characters. Shaara has delved into their worlds to re-create a possible pre-Revolution scenario; he has researched their histories, crafted a character for each of them, and used that information to predict their…show more content… He paints the burning of the British gunship Gaspee lackadaisically, as if it was an everyday occurrence. Likewise, the British authorities’ search for the guilty citizens becomes “...a sad joke,” (89) implying that it would not affect history in the long run. Furthermore, the following town meeting appears to be nothing more than a fierce clash of willpower. Another event that Shaara paints as unimportant is the Boston Tea Party. He shows us the perspective of the ship’s captain, who initially sees the raid as just another attack on his ship; while it is important to him, it is meaningless to history. But Shaara does not stop there; during the nomination of George Washington as the Continental Army’s general, he focuses on the political side of the nomination. He highlights the attitude of John Hancock, the other potential candidate, in great detail; he describes Hancock as “staring at [Adams] with a broad smile, leaning forward in his chair, preparing to rise,” (304) and later “deflating, sinking down into the chair” (304) when Washington’s name is chosen. Shaara subtly hides the true importance of the nomination by transforming the nomination into a political event similar to the election of a president or prime…show more content… It is skillfully crafted; Shaara’s effort in researching this time period is evident within the text. The novel expanded my knowledge of writing fiction as well. I am immensely impressed by the amount of work that Shaara poured into this novel; how he spent countless hours researching the major characters, how he sculpted an interesting and accurate personality for each character, and how he threw his characters into each event to see their reaction. It amazes me to see him create a “character” for real-life people, for it is something that I had never thought about when reading historical fiction in the past. Thanks to this revelation, I have obtained a newfound respect for Shaara’s writing, and I now wish to try to create an interesting yet accurate character for a real-life person as a
