War Brothers

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2008

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Themes

The Experience of Child Soldiers

Since its creation in 1987, the Lord’s Resistance Army (See: Background) has kidnapped over 67,000 youths to enslave as child soldiers. Many of these child soldiers are forced to commit or witness acts of violence against civilian populations, further traumatizing them. War Brothers explores the experience of child soldiers and the impact these experiences have on their lives.

At the beginning of the novel, Jacob is portrayed as naïve and unaware of the dangers posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army. As Jacob informs Tony in the first chapter, “‘Kony cannot get us, you know. We are safe.’ Jacob […] had heard Father talking to Headmaster Heycoop about hiring extra guards to surround the school at night. There was no reason now to fear Kony and his rebel soldiers” (11). Jacob assumes that thanks to his socioeconomic status and seemingly secure surroundings, the army is a problem for other children, not him. Jacob’s confidence is quickly exposed as misplaced when the students are kidnapped on their first night at school, and much of the rest of the novel involves Jacob’s psychological grappling with his relative lack of experience and understanding of the dangers he is facing.

In contrast to Jacob’s naivety, Oteka is knowledgeable about the world due to his difficult upbringing, in which his entire family died after a series of terrible events. Oteka willingly gives himself up to the soldiers out of desperation after the death of his caretaker, believing that surrendering to the Lord’s Resistance Army is the only way he can survive. In splitting its narrative between these two characters, War Brothers demonstrates how children can be forced into these life-or-death situations, either through force or through a lack of social support and other options.

However, despite their differing reasons for being in the Lord’s Resistance Army, both Jacob and Oteka undergo similar traumatic experiences. They are deprived of food, beaten mercilessly, threatened with mutilation and death, and urged to commit acts of violence against civilians. Both Jacob and Oteka are forced to make difficult choices under the pressure to survive: Despite the risks to themselves, they continuously choose to aid others whenever possible and resist the violent indoctrination inflicted upon them.

Once the children escape, Jacob, Oteka, and the others face a degree of social ostracism and suspicion from the other locals back home, who now fear them. In this way, War Brothers highlights how the challenges and traumas faced by child soldiers can be ongoing, even after rescue or escape, as reintegrating back into their communities may be a difficult process. Through telling the stories of Jacob and Oteka, the novel advocates for greater compassion and understanding of what being a child soldier means and what the repercussions are.

The Impact of Trauma

One of the most important themes of War Brothers is how trauma impacts the children caught up in the war, and how that trauma manifests in their emotions and behavior.

One of the most significant examples of the impact of trauma is in Tony’s character arc. At the beginning of the novel, Tony is Jacob’s loyal friend, and he appears as an ordinary, cheerful boy. However, once Tony is forced to kill Adam, he becomes a soldier in the Lord’s Resistance Army and is given a weapon and privileges. This act of violence and its consequences pulls Jacob and Tony further apart. As Jacob becomes more and more desperate to escape, Tony retreats into himself, becoming silent and morose. He eventually seems to give up on his relationships with the other kidnapped boys to ensure his own survival as a soldier. While Tony shows signs of recovery at the end of the novel, he’s still not quite the same again after his traumatic experiences.

Other characters exhibit symptoms of trauma despite their lack of backstory. The character of Lizard—a sadistic soldier who takes a particular dislike to Jacob—is eventually revealed to be the kidnapped grandson of Jacob’s father’s friend, Musa Henry Torac. The implication is that Lizard used to be similar to Tony—a random kid forced into a terrible situation, who embraced violence as a means of survival. Unlike Tony, however, Lizard never turned to the support of others to escape, instead fully embracing vindictiveness and violence as a consequence of the violence forced upon him by the Lord’s Resistance Army.

The other children also show the effects of trauma to varying degrees. Norman spends much of his time deeply frightened, horrified by the violence surrounding him, and unsure of how best to cope with his predicament. While usually stronger and more sure of himself, Jacob also sometimes feels the effects of their situation, breaking down in tears after the massacre of a village. While Oteka is resourceful and copes well under pressure, he is nevertheless so impacted by his experiences that he cannot resign himself to reintegrating back into his community after the children escape—instead, he decides to go back and rescue more children, unable to resume a normal life so long as he knows that others are still suffering. In all of these various ways, the characters of War Brothers illustrate how trauma impacts individuals and how healing can be a complex and difficult process.

The Bonds of Friendship

In War Brothers, the bonds of friendship between the children are alternately tested or strengthened due to their wartime experiences. At the outset of the novel, some of the major characters—particularly Jacob, Tony, and Paul—are already friends, while others—Norman, Oteka, and Hannah—are strangers to each other. By the end of the novel, all are close friends, though some are so traumatized that they are unable to express or act much on that friendship.

Once the children are kidnapped, they are banned from speaking to each other or anyone else when they rest at encampments, as the army attempts to weaken their social bonds. In this environment, the three people who Jacob did not know at the beginning of the novel become his closest companions—Oteka, Norman, and Hannah. These friendships are initially rooted in mutual protection and understanding, although as they seek to aid and support one another, their emotional bonds deepen. At the same time, Jacob’s other relationships—with Tony and Paul—become tested, as neither kid has the experience or knowledge to handle their traumatic circumstances, unlike Oteka and Hannah, who have been there longer and know the rules. In War Brothers, violence creates a new reality, in which old friendships can more easily fray than new ones.

Despite the difficulties, friendship is a lifeline for the children who choose to nurture it. By contrast, those who neglect friendship become either isolated, like Tony, or succumb to extreme violence, like Lizard. Lizard comes from a similar socioeconomic class as Jacob; however, in the camp, he turns cruel and capricious—unlike Jacob, who instead demonstrates his bravery and loyalty. Lizard does not have friends, and like Tony, has to rely on himself to survive, leading to his death in the forest with no one to rescue him. Jacob, Hannah, Oteka, and Norman respond to these pressures by drawing closer together, enabling each one of them to maintain their sense of compassion and eventually leading to their successful joint escape.

By the end of the novel, Jacob and Oteka are fast friends who consider each other brothers, despite only having known each other for the past couple of months. Their adverse experiences, while traumatizing them and completely changing the trajectory of their lives, also reinforce the importance of their bond. Despite their differences at the beginning—in socioeconomic standing, family support, and education—the boys can connect over their shared trauma, creating a loving relationship through it.