"March" is a novel by Geraldine Brooks that tells the story of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's classic novel "Little Women." The book is a historical fiction novel that imagines the life of Mr. March during the American Civil War.
The novel begins with Mr. March, whose real name is John, as he leaves his family to serve as a chaplain in the Union Army. He is a passionate abolitionist and believes it is his duty to fight for the freedom of enslaved people. Throughout the novel, Mr. March grapples with the horrors of war and the moral dilemmas it presents. He witnesses the atrocities committed by both sides and struggles to maintain his faith in a just and loving God.
As Mr. March travels with the army, he meets a variety of people who shape his views and challenge his beliefs. One of these people is a slave named Adam, who becomes a close friend and confidant. Adam's intelligence and kindness inspire Mr. March to see the humanity in all people, regardless of their race or status.
Another significant character in the novel is Miss Anne, a Quaker woman who becomes a nurse for the Union Army. Mr. March is initially wary of Miss Anne's pacifist views, but he comes to respect and admire her for her dedication to saving lives and easing suffering. Through his interactions with Miss Anne, Mr. March begins to question the violence and destruction of war.
As the war comes to an end, Mr. March returns home to his family. He is a changed man, having experienced the horrors and complexities of war firsthand. He finds it difficult to reconnect with his wife and daughters, who have grown and changed in his absence. Mr. March must also confront the guilt he feels for leaving his family and the challenges he faces as a returning veteran.
Overall, "March" is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores the moral and personal consequences of war. Through the story of Mr. March, Brooks illustrates the complexity of human nature and the ways in which war can both test and transform a person's beliefs and values.
March Summary & Study Guide
March lies untended, and realizes she must change his sheets and clean him up herself. If so, then bravery is but a polite term for a mind devoid of rationality and imagination. Grace herself barely escaped being sold as a prostitute: only the disfiguring scars on her back from the long-ago flogging saved her. March is sent by the Army to help the former slaves on the plantation, who are still working there, in whatever way he can and to educate them. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs.
March Book Summary, by Geraldine Brooks
. Part One, Chapter Three: Scars Summary In his next letter home, it is clear that March has returned to the home of Clements, which has now been turned into a Union hospital. To avoid a scandal, March bitterly agrees to transfer. Actually, you'll probably always be pleased to have along with you. Zibilee: Mr March here is definitely an usual man too, but not in an unsympathetic way. March hides, but they seize Canning, shooting him in the knees.
March by Geraldine Brooks: Summary and reviews
The brave man, the real hero, quakes with terror sweats, feels his very bowels betray him, and in spite of this moves forward to do the act he dreads. Right away March is placed in a compromising position in his effort to save a dying soldier, eventually having to let him go as they struggle together to cross the river. The author based March on Bronson Alcott, real-life father of Louisa May Alcott who wroteLittle Women — except that Bronson Alcott was too old to have fought in the Civil War. It was at this point that I realised how deliberate every single thing about the book had been; how brilliantly Geraldine Brooks had used the limitations of a first person narration. Glimpse this particular matter is risk-free. March writes home again, describing his new post in a plantation run by Union forces and worked by free African Americans, whom he is to teach to write and read. Grace tells Marmee everything from when she first met March 22 years ago to the hug that she and March shared that led him to transfer to Oak Landing.
March by Geraldine Brooks
March impulsively volunteers to join. By the grace of one slave woman, Zannah, March's life is spared and he is sent to a Washington hospital to recover from his injuries. But the world will not help me put back together what war has broken apart. March learns that the real reason behind his dismissal is that someone accused him of having an affair with Grace. One night, March meets Marmee in the woods, and they make love. Set during the Civil War, the book opens with a letter March is writing to Marmee and the girls, taken from Little Women. Dorothea struggles because she has no power over her husband, Casaubon, while Rosamond is even less fortunate since Lydgate treats her badly as well.
