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{{Short description|1961 novel by Howard Fast}} |
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{{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> |
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{{Infobox book |
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| name = April Morning |
| name = April Morning |
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| image = Howard Fast - April Morning.jpeg |
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| orig title = |
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| caption = First edition |
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| translator = |
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| image = [[Image:April Morning cover.jpg|200px]] |
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| author = [[Howard Fast]] |
| author = [[Howard Fast]] |
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| cover_artist = |
| cover_artist = William Plummer |
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| country = |
| country = United States |
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| language = |
| language = English |
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| series = |
| series = |
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| genre = [[Historical fiction]], young adult |
| genre = [[Historical fiction]], young adult |
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| published = [[1961 in literature|1961]] [[Crown Publishing Group|Crown]] |
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| publisher = [[Bantam Books|Bantam]] |
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| release_date = [[1961 in literature|1961]] |
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| media_type = Print (Paperback) |
| media_type = Print (Paperback) |
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| pages = |
| pages = 202 |
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| isbn = |
| isbn = 978-0-553-27322-9 |
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| oclc= 3116580 |
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| preceded_by = |
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| preceded_by = |
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'''''April Morning''''' is a 1961 novel by [[Howard Fast]], about Adam Cooper's coming of age during the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Battle of Lexington]].<ref name="CLC V.131">{{cite journal|last=Hunter|first=Jeffrey W.|title=Howard Fast (1914-)|journal=Contemporary Literary Criticism|year=2000|volume=131|pages=49–103|url=http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitCrit/york_main/FJ3533550003|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629075855/http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitCrit/york_main/FJ3533550003|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 June 2013|access-date=15 May 2013}} </ref> One critic notes that in the beginning of the novel he is "dressed down by his father, Moses, misunderstood by his mother, Sarah, and plagued by his brother, Levi."<ref name="NPR Gunning">{{cite web|last=Gunning|first=Sally|title=History Made Real in 'April Morning'|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89665192|work=National Public Radio|access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> In the backdrop are the peaceful people of Lexington, forced "to go into a way of war that they abhorred."<ref name="English Journal">{{cite journal|last=Kalijarvi|first=Mary G.|title=Bicentennial Browsing: Rx for English Teachers, a Cure for Bicentennial Blues|journal=The English Journal|year=1975|volume=64|issue=6|pages=64–70|doi=10.2307/815959|jstor=815959}}</ref> |
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'''''April Morning''''' is a [[1961]] [[novel]] by [[Howard Fast]] depicting the [[Battle of Lexington and Concord]] from the perspective of a fictional teenager, Adam Cooper. It takes place in the 24-hour period from [[April 18]], [[1775]] to the aftermath of the battle. During that stretch, Adam [[coming of age|comes of age]] and resolves his difficulties with his intellectually demanding father. |
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While the novel was not originally written as a young adult |
While the novel was not originally written as a [[young adult fiction|young adult]] story, it has increasingly been assigned in [[middle school]] [[English literature|English]] and [[social studies]] classes, due to the age of the protagonist and Fast's meticulous efforts to recreate the texture of daily life in [[colonial America]] and the political currents on the eve of the [[American Revolution]]. |
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In 1988, a film version was made for television starring [[Chad Lowe]] as Adam and [[Tommy Lee Jones]] as Moses. |
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==Plot summary== |
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== Plot== |
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The novel is organized into eight chapters named after times of day. |
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The novel begins in the afternoon of April 18, 1775, when Adam's father, Moses, sends him out to draw water from the well for his mother, Sarah. After completing this task, he heads upstairs to talk with Granny. During it, they engage in a debate on religion. Afterwards, they head downstairs for dinner. Then they pray and the meal, consisting of bread pudding and donkers, begins. In the middle of it, Moses confronts Adam about a "spell" to be said while drawing water. As a result, the confrontation starts an argument, which is interrupted by Cousin Simmons arriving. He, chosen to draft a letter on the rights of man, comes to Moses with his draft seeking criticism. Another debate arises over his description of rights as "god-given." Moses asserts that rights come from the people backing them, not God. |
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After dinner is over and Adam finishes some evening chores, he heads over to the Simmons' house to meet with Ruth, his love interest, and go on a walk. Before he is able to see her, however, Aunt Simmons makes conversation with him and feeds him pie. Then Ruth comes downstairs, and she and Adam leave on a walk. During it, they talk about various things, including their futures and what they want to be in the world. After a kiss he walks her home and then he himself heads home. Upon arrival, he spots his brother, Levi, cleaning his gun. He does not like this but Sarah insists that he let him do it. Then he heads upstairs and goes to bed. Before falling asleep he overhears his parents talking about the committee meeting. Finally he falls asleep. |
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{{spoilers}} |
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<font size=7><font color=ff3399></font> |
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==="The Afternoon"=== |
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Suddenly, Adam is awakened by Levi, who draws attention to a speedy rider that stops in the center of town. Now all the Coopers are awake and curious. People gather around the rider on the green, who informs them that the British are coming and may be marching through their town. He then rides off. Because of this news, arguments stir in the crowd on whether to muster the militia. The people of Lexington agree to muster it. Adam signs up and is then tasked to take Ruth home. After doing so, he comes home to overhear his parents designating him a man. As he walks in Moses chastises him. He then has him load his gun and go to the muster. |
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His father scares him to get water for dinner from the Coopers' well. He feels a sense of impending doom and dread, so he quietly says a spell to banish evil spirits from the water. His younger brother, Levi, overhears him, and threatens to tell their father, Moses, who once punished Adam for similar behavior by whipping him with a switch seven times. Since, to Moses, the spell represents not [[blasphemy]] but [[superstition|superstitious]] ignorance, Adam questioned why his father whipped him seven times ... and was rewarded with ten more whips. |
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After Adam and all the other men arrive at the green, the militia muster falls into order and the women and children are sent inside. They stand there for a few hours until the redcoats march into town. The British fix bayonets, then fire upon the militia. Moses falls and Adam runs away. He hides in a smokehouse until Levi comes in. Levi tells him to leave town because the British are searching. He leaves, jumps over a wall, and meets Solomon Chandler. He feeds and comforts Adam on the events he just witnessed. Then they walk until they meet Cousin Dover, Cousin Simmons, and the Reverend. They continue to walk until they arrive at the militia encampment. There the militia plans several ambushes and Adam shares his story of the massacre on the Lexington green. Then the militia sends a horseman to scout ahead while the others lie in wait by the road. He returns, then the British come. The militia releases a few volleys before retreating over the hill. The militia, not pursued by the British, stop to rest and plan the next ambush. |
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Back in the house, Adam's mother upbraids him for not spending his free time as his father did at the same age, reading and memorizing the [[Bible]]'s [[Book of Lamentations]] "to profit himself." Only his grandmother gives him relief, reminding his mother that Moses as a young mans was as stubborn and pigheaded as he is now. |
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During the next ambush Adam falls asleep under some brush. He is awakened by Cousin Simmons and the Reverend searching for his body and talking about him. He calls to them, to their relief, and they send him home. He returns home and is greeted by Levi, who walks him into the house. It is occupied by mourners, Ruth, Granny, and Sarah. The latter sends him to get Moses a coffin and take it to the church. After a brief conversation with the coffin-maker he returns home. He eats dinner, then Sarah sends him to light candles by Moses' coffin. Ruth accompanies him and they talk for a while, until he walks her home. Then he himself goes home and to bed. |
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The Coopers eat a [[Dutch people|Dutch]] dish called donkers for dinner, after which Moses sternly reprimands Adam for the ignorance represented by the spell and points to the Coopers' family tradition, in 125 years in the American colonies, of literacy, rationalism and intellectualism. He pointedly tells his son that despite his considerable height, he is not yet a man in his father's eyes and has a long way to go. Adam later tells his grandmother he feels unsure he could carry this on. |
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== Themes == |
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As dinner ends, the Coopers are visited by their [[cousin]] Joseph Simmons, who, like Moses, is a member of the local [[Committee of correspondence]], organizing resistance to the British and sharing information with other local committees. Simmons has been designated by the Committee to draft a statement of the rights of man, and he and Moses try to work on it. Moses expresses dissatisfaction with the document due to its invocation of God as the source of man's rights, since he believes rights are only guaranteed by those who stand up and assert them, and doesn't want to use religion in arguments, preferring reason instead. |
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Several major themes arise in the novel. Although the most common theme picked up on is coming of age, several others have been noted. These others are non-violence, the rights of man, and the truth.<ref name="Theme Analysation">{{cite web|title=Theme Analysis|url=http://www.novelguide.com/April-Morning/themeanalysis.html|work=Novel Guide}}</ref> |
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The first theme, coming of age, deals with Adam's becoming a man during the Battle of Lexington. After Moses is killed on the green, Adam is thrust into manhood. Vomiting and sobbing after the battle, he then returns home to be treated as the man of the house, against his wishes.<ref name="Theme Analysation" /> |
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After Simmons leaves, Moses must go to the Committee meeting. Although the minimum age is sixteen, an age Adam has not yet reached, he nonetheless asks his father if he can go. Moses rhetorically asks Adam if he can reason and think like a man. Adam cannot say yes, and stays home, convinced even more firmly that his father doesn't love him. |
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The theme of nonviolence is based on Moses' belief in solving problems through arguments, rather than warfare. This theme is also supported by Adam's later saying "I don't hate anyone enough to kill him." The rights of man appears several times through Moses' speeches. Also, the colonists are drafting a statement on the rights of man to send to Boston.<ref name="Theme Analysation" /> |
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==="The Evening"=== |
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For the truth theme, several conflicts have been noted in the first chapter, such as Moses' talking against superstition yet birching Adam seven times.<ref name="False Starts">{{cite journal|last=Collamore|first=Elizabeth|title=False Starts and Distorted Vision in "April Morning"|journal=The English Journal|date=November 1969|volume=58|issue=8|pages=1186–1188|doi=10.2307/811532|jstor=811532}}</ref> |
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Adam begins this chapter by recounting what his father later told his mother about what happened at the Committee meeting. The attendees discussed the committee's finances and the weapons available to it, then got to the most contentious topic on the agenda: whether or not to keep [[minutes]]. Moses won the debate with a fiery speech about how the Committee was one of the noblest things he had ever been part of and no one should be ashamed of it or anything it did, even if it should result in [[treason]] or [[sedition]] charges against the participants (historically, a very real possibility). |
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== Background == |
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During this time, Adam himself goes over to the Simmons and takes their daughter, Ruth, out for a walk. Despite their family relationship, there is the possibility of a romance between them, as Ruth once told everyone that she was going to marry Adam when they grew up. |
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York has said that Fast's view on the revolution (that aligns with his political beliefs) is exhibited in the novel. He says "[Fast] believed the essence of the revolution was with the faceless and nameless people who fought it."<ref name="Fast's Revolution">{{cite journal|last=York|first=Neil L.|title=Howard Fast's American Revolution|journal=American Studies|year=2009|volume=50|issue=3–4|pages=85–106|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/american_studies/v050/50.3-4.york.html|access-date=15 May 2013|doi=10.1353/ams.2009.0035|s2cid=145154976}}</ref> Also, ''[[The New York Times]]'' says that "[Fast] proposes that Solomon Chandler organized the Battle of Lexington.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite news|title=April Morning (1988)|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/123742/April-Morning/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112181205/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/123742/April-Morning/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 November 2007|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Hal Erickson|author-link=Hal Erickson (author)|date=2007|access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> |
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== Reception == |
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With Ruth, Adam can finally vent about what he feels to be his father's constant belittling of him. He snaps at Ruth when she [[gossip]]s about a [[bigamy|bigamist]] relative of his, but shortly afterwards kisses her and ends the walk on a high note. |
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The novel received many positive reviews. Hunter praised Fast for writing it for "demonstrat[ing] a more mature vision."<ref name="CLC V.131" /> Desrosiers agreed, saying that ''April Morning'' "[is] a well written work which knits together the events of the 19th of April 1775."<ref name="PDF Article">{{cite web|last=Desrosiers|first=Marian|title=Teaching with Historical Fiction: Grade 8 U.S. History from Revolution to Reconstruction|url=http://www.tahamoreperfectunion.com/PDFs/Desrosiers_Paper_on_using_historical_fiction_gr_8.pdf|work=Tahamore Perfect Union|access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> Macdonald also praised Fast for "A virtually perfect relationship between literary character and research."<ref name="Critical Companion">{{cite book|last=Macdonald|first=Andrew|title=Howard Fast: A Critical Companion|year=1996|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-313-29493-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztyf_PXrBpcC&q=%22April+Morning%22+Howard+Fast&pg=PR9}}</ref> |
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==Adaptations== |
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However, Adam's mood is soured when he returns home and finds Levi has cleaned his gun. Even though he did a good job, Adam is incensed that Levi would do such a potentially dangerous thing and berates Levi in terms similar to those his own father uses on him. |
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The novel was adapted for TV in the ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]'' in 1988 by [[James Lee Barrett]]. It was directed by [[Delbert Mann]].<ref>[http://ctva.biz/US/Anthology/Hallmark/HallOfFame_37_%281987-88%29.htm Hallmark Hall of Fame Episode Guide, 1987-88 season] Accessed 2011 March 26</ref> It stars [[Chad Lowe]] as Adam and [[Tommy Lee Jones]] as Moses. Although it is set at the very beginning of the American Revolution it is more about Adam's journey to manhood and his relationship with his parents.<ref name=Tribune>{{cite news|last=Szul|first=Barbara|title="April Morning," a film version of Howard Fast's 1961...|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-04-23/entertainment/8803110477_1_villagers-howard-fast-father|access-date=15 May 2013|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=23 April 1988}}</ref> |
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==Publication information== |
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As he lays awake in bed that night, Adam overhears his parents talking about him downstairs. His father is aghast when his mother tells him that Adam thinks he doesn't love him, and says quite emphatically that he does. He finally falls asleep to the sound of his mother reading ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]'' to his father. |
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''April Morning'', by [[Howard Fast]]. Originally published 1961. Mass Market Paperback: Bantam, 1983. {{ISBN|978-0-553-27322-9}} |
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== |
==See also== |
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* [[List of films about the American Revolution]] |
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* [[List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution]] |
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==References== |
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This chapter begins with another long monologue by Adam in which he admits to agreeing with his father that [[dream]]s do not predict the future, and recounts an episode in which his father was proved right on this. |
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{{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}} |
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{{Reflist}} |
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{{Howard Fast}} |
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The actual action begins with Levi interrupting Adam's sleep by jumping into his older brother's bed, scared after a [[nightmare]] in which, he says, the sky was red and he died. Adam angrily tells him he's been playing war with his friends too eagerly in anticipation of the likely war with the British, and that's why he's having nightmares. |
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[[Category:Novels by Howard Fast]] |
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They are interrupted when Levi hears the hoofbeats of a [[horse]] coming to town at high speed, an extremely rare occurrence at night that suggests some sort of emergency situation. All Lexington is awakened, and Adam's father realizes it is Committee-related and goes out to the green along with the other men to hear what the man has to say. Adam's mother is about to forbid him to accompany his father when his grandmother overrules her and says he should be allowed to go too. |
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[[Category:American historical novels]] |
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[[Category:Novels set during the American Revolutionary War]] |
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The rider tells the men of the town that he watched roughly a thousand British troops cross the [[Charles River]] and they are likely headed this way. He then continues toward Concord, where the local [[minutemen (militia)|militia]]s have been storing munitions in preparation for a showdown with the colonial government. |
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[[Category:American young adult novels]] |
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[[Category:Works about children in war]] |
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This leads to a debate among the assembled Committee members over what to do. Some believe the whole thing is overblown and that they should go back to bed. Others believe the British are simply out to arrest [[Samuel Adams]] and [[John Hancock]], who unbeknownst to all but the village minister had been sheltered in Lexington until earlier that evening. But most believe that the British are coming in numbers far too large to simply arrest two subversives, and that their real target is the weapons cached at Concord. |
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[[Category:1961 American novels]] |
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[[Category:Fiction set in 1775]] |
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Since the local Committee and thus the militia amount to merely 79 men with no military experience, the minister argues for prudence as the odds are overwhelmingly against them. This smacks of cowardice to Moses, who responds that it was this sort of situation the Committee was founded to prepare for and they must make a stand. His argument carries the day, and the church bells are rung and the Committee repairs to [[Buckman Tavern]] to muster the militia. |
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[[Category:Lexington, Massachusetts]] |
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[[Category:Novels set in one day]] |
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The militia's ranks are swelled by the local boys, including Adam, who worries that his father will again humiliate him by not letting him sign the muster book. However, Moses merely looks up surprised when Adam signs in, and later tells his mother that Adam is no longer a boy in his eyes. Moses helps his son prepare his [[musket]] for combat and, for the first time, tells him to go slowly with Ruth. After an early breakfast of [[cornmeal]] mush topped with [[honey]], Adam goes out with his father in the early morning hours to await the British on the green. |
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[[Category:Novels set in the 1770s]] |
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==="The Morning"=== |
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About 70 men and boys are ultimately gathered on the green to await the British; mostly joking around and finding other ways to keep their minds off what might happen. Simon Casper, a resident of a nearby town who is the only local with military experience (from the [[French and Indian War]]) shows up and argues with Moses and the minister over what degree of readiness to assume when the British arrive. They argue for not cocking weapons in advance; they are peaceful people who though they are ready to fight do not want to start a war. They say they will be prepared to argue their cause with the British, and fight only if they have no other choice. While that is the overwhelming sentiment of those gathered on the green, Casper warns that the British may not see things the same way. |
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The British finally arrive shortly after dawn and are faced with two lines of 33 militiamen, their uncocked weapons at their sides. Their commander, [[John Pitcairn|Major Pitcairn]] rudely orders them to disperse. The militia remains firm on the green and says nothing in reply. |
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A [[shot heard 'round the world|shot]] is fired, and then the British begin attacking. Adam sees his father struck down and killed by the first shot, and his neighbor Jonas Parker run through twice with a [[bayonet]]. Adam runs right after his father's death. He runs off the green and trips in too a ditch. Shortly after he realizes that the British are searching for survivor's and hides in a nearby [[smokehouse]], where he falls asleep for a while. Then Levi finds him and tells him what has happened since the battle, and the two commiserate over their father's death. He tells Levi to go home and tell everyone he's safe for now and that he will come later when it is safe. |
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==="The Forenoon"=== |
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After a short sleep, Adam is awakened by the sound of two British soldiers outside debating whether to burn the smokehouse down. He is able to watch them through a crack in the wood. They are both in favor of doing so, but since it would be against their orders, they leave it alone. |
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They leave, and he escapes, trying to use shortcuts through the woods. He runs into two British soldiers, and one shoots at him but his weapon misfires. He escapes across a meadow and is met by an old man, Solomon Chandler, who calms him and encourages him to grieve and weep over his father. Chandler tells him he has come to manhood, but Adam still doesn't believe it. Chandler tells him about his life, having gone to sea on merchant ships as Adam has sometimes wished to, and then come back to fight in the French and Indian War. He assures Adam that despite having run away when the shooting started on the green, he is not a coward. |
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The two set out via back roads and short cuts for a fork in a nearby brook where they can meet up with other local militiamen. Along the way, Chandler reassures Adam that the British can be defeated since whether they get to the arms stores at Concord or not, they will still have to return to Boston and they have disadvantages the colonists do not, such as heavy packs and weapons they do not know how to aim correctly at anything other than close range. |
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They eventually meet up with other militiamen, and Adam tells them all what happened in Lexington. |
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i love aly bahn |
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==="The Midday"=== |
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More militias eventually drift in, the result of the highly coordinated information network the Committees have set up. They learn that the British reached Concord, failed to find much in the way of munitions as those had been moved out of town before they came, and that they took heavy casualties at [[Old North Bridge]]. |
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They gather along the road back to Boston and plan an [[ambush]] against the retreating British when they hear gunfire in the distance and another rider informs them that the British are just up the road. Many familiar faces from Lexington come, and Adam realizes that fewer men died from his hometown than he had feared. |
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The British troops arrive, bedraggled and wounded from several previous ambushes. Adam is among those firing at the British from extreme close range, but despite his father's death he does not enjoy the experience, wetting his pants in the process. The militias run away afterwards, but the British do not pursue, realizing that it would only invite more casualties and waste effort. |
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A half-mile from the ambush site, Adam and Joseph Simmons come across other militiamen stealing effects from the body of a dead British soldier, a boy roughly Adam's own age. Simmons rebukes them and chases them away, but Adam's response to the scene is to [[vomiting|vomit]]. |
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The British are again approaching, so the militias lay another ambush. This time Adam wants to shoot to keep his mind off what he has just seen, and does. The militias again retreat further down the road, to a barn where four riflemen sit [[sniper|sniping]] at the British from great distances. One of them is Solomon Chandler, who brags to Adam that he shot a British officer off his horse from three hundred yards. Adam realizes that, while he too now has what it takes to kill in warfare, and will do so in the future, unlike Chandler he does not take joy in it. He recalls the British wagon carrying the wounded and dead, and even finds it in himself to sympathize with them. |
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The militias continue their [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla tactics]], laying ambushes for the British and then retreating through the woods to set another one, as the skirmish at Lexington showed they could not survive a direct confrontation. They meet up with others at a nearby barn, and decide to set yet another trap for the British along a nearby road, hoping that if they can tie them up more militias will be mobilized and increase the odds in their favor. |
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Along the way they encounter, and defeat, a British [[cavalry]] patrol, taking another wounded teenage soldier prisoner in the process. |
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I LOVE KENZIE DOVEEE<333 |
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==="The Afternoon"=== |
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Their group of militiamen meets up with yet more from neighboring towns who have answered the call in the wake of the morning's events. One suggests that the whole combined group should get together to trap the British in another nearby area suited for ambush, and hold them there for a few hours until even more colonists can show up. Together, the force will inflict a decisive and deadly victory on the British. Since it sounds like more of a plan than anything else the militias have done all day, and those few with military experience agree with it, they begin to blockade the road and lay their trap. |
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Along the way they see smoke rising from the vicinity of Lexington and they think that the village has been burnt by the British. Adam concludes he has nothing to go home to and decides to stick with the fight. The attack on the British goes as planned, but Adam falls asleep during it. |
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He is awakened sometime later by the voices of Joseph Simmons and the Reverend worrying about which of them will have to tell his mother that he, as well as his father, are dead. They are relieved when he gets up and tells them he was merely asleep, although they regard him with a sort of awe of being able to fall asleep during a battle. |
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They give Adam leave to return to Lexington as he has had a long day and done his duty. When he gets there, he finds that only three houses were burned, and not the Coopers'. His family is relieved to see him, as they had heard that he was dead. |
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His father's body has been brought home and lies in a [[coffin]] downstairs. Levi tells him of seeing British dead and wounded brought through the village, of the rude behavior of the redcoats (one of whom even threatened to shoot one of his friends). He wants to know how many British Adam killed, and is disappointed when Adam says he doesn't know. He thinks Adam should at least have gotten wounded. Adam tells him not to talk like that as his mother is deep in [[grief]] for her husband. He tells Levi he has to get used to that and face up to the new realities and be there for their mother. |
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Adam bathes and dresses in clean clothes, and the family bears Moses Cooper to the church with the other fallen from that morning. As Adam looks over the damage left from the battle, he realizes that unlike his brother, he has left childhood behind. He tells Joseph Simmons that the night before, his father had put his arm around him as they went out to the muster, the first and only time he felt the love his father expressed for him. |
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Joseph tells him there will be another muster of local militiamen the next day for the [[siege of Boston]], but he isn't sure that he'll sign it as his position as a [[blacksmith]] is extremely important to the village. Adam is not committed yet, but may sign. |
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==="The Evening"=== |
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Adam walks back to his home and thinks back to when he played "Pontiac," a sort of cowboys-and-indians, as a child. |
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At the house, many neighbors have come to visit and prepare food. Adam has a new appreciation for why so much food is cooked for the recently bereaved: "it is a tribute to the living, who are in need of it at the time." He notes that his mother, who used to make references to his excessive appetite, now seems to be worried that he might starve. |
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Ruth is there again, and the two talk. They take some fresh [[candle]]s to the church for Adam's father. She asks about the battle in the morning on the green, and he tells her about some of the things he saw. She worries that the British will come again and the same thing will happen. "It isn't the same anymore," he tells her. "Today we knew that we wouldn't fight. But now we know that we must, and we're learning how." |
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After they sit quietly in the church for a few minutes, Ruth asks Adam if he loves her, and after thinking about it he says yes. She tells him she loves him, and they kiss and part. |
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Most of the neighbors have left when Adam returns home. He has a final conversation with his grandmother about his father, in which she tells him not to lie to himself about going to the morning's muster for the siege of Boston ... she knows he will do it. |
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He goes up to bed and falls asleep, thinking for one last time about how both his childhood and the world he knew are "over and done with and gone for all time." |
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==Trivia== |
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*The 1988 film version of ''April Morning'' was filmed in Canada. |
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[[Category:1961 novels]] |
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[[Category:American Revolutionary War]] |
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Latest revision as of 11:16, 18 April 2024
 First edition | |
| Author | Howard Fast |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | William Plummer |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction, young adult |
| Published | 1961 Crown |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 202 |
| ISBN | 978-0-553-27322-9 |
| OCLC | 3116580 |
April Morning is a 1961 novel by Howard Fast, about Adam Cooper's coming of age during the Battle of Lexington.[1] One critic notes that in the beginning of the novel he is "dressed down by his father, Moses, misunderstood by his mother, Sarah, and plagued by his brother, Levi."[2] In the backdrop are the peaceful people of Lexington, forced "to go into a way of war that they abhorred."[3]
While the novel was not originally written as a young adult story, it has increasingly been assigned in middle school English and social studies classes, due to the age of the protagonist and Fast's meticulous efforts to recreate the texture of daily life in colonial America and the political currents on the eve of the American Revolution.
In 1988, a film version was made for television starring Chad Lowe as Adam and Tommy Lee Jones as Moses.
Plot[edit]
The novel begins in the afternoon of April 18, 1775, when Adam's father, Moses, sends him out to draw water from the well for his mother, Sarah. After completing this task, he heads upstairs to talk with Granny. During it, they engage in a debate on religion. Afterwards, they head downstairs for dinner. Then they pray and the meal, consisting of bread pudding and donkers, begins. In the middle of it, Moses confronts Adam about a "spell" to be said while drawing water. As a result, the confrontation starts an argument, which is interrupted by Cousin Simmons arriving. He, chosen to draft a letter on the rights of man, comes to Moses with his draft seeking criticism. Another debate arises over his description of rights as "god-given." Moses asserts that rights come from the people backing them, not God.
After dinner is over and Adam finishes some evening chores, he heads over to the Simmons' house to meet with Ruth, his love interest, and go on a walk. Before he is able to see her, however, Aunt Simmons makes conversation with him and feeds him pie. Then Ruth comes downstairs, and she and Adam leave on a walk. During it, they talk about various things, including their futures and what they want to be in the world. After a kiss he walks her home and then he himself heads home. Upon arrival, he spots his brother, Levi, cleaning his gun. He does not like this but Sarah insists that he let him do it. Then he heads upstairs and goes to bed. Before falling asleep he overhears his parents talking about the committee meeting. Finally he falls asleep.
Suddenly, Adam is awakened by Levi, who draws attention to a speedy rider that stops in the center of town. Now all the Coopers are awake and curious. People gather around the rider on the green, who informs them that the British are coming and may be marching through their town. He then rides off. Because of this news, arguments stir in the crowd on whether to muster the militia. The people of Lexington agree to muster it. Adam signs up and is then tasked to take Ruth home. After doing so, he comes home to overhear his parents designating him a man. As he walks in Moses chastises him. He then has him load his gun and go to the muster.
After Adam and all the other men arrive at the green, the militia muster falls into order and the women and children are sent inside. They stand there for a few hours until the redcoats march into town. The British fix bayonets, then fire upon the militia. Moses falls and Adam runs away. He hides in a smokehouse until Levi comes in. Levi tells him to leave town because the British are searching. He leaves, jumps over a wall, and meets Solomon Chandler. He feeds and comforts Adam on the events he just witnessed. Then they walk until they meet Cousin Dover, Cousin Simmons, and the Reverend. They continue to walk until they arrive at the militia encampment. There the militia plans several ambushes and Adam shares his story of the massacre on the Lexington green. Then the militia sends a horseman to scout ahead while the others lie in wait by the road. He returns, then the British come. The militia releases a few volleys before retreating over the hill. The militia, not pursued by the British, stop to rest and plan the next ambush.
During the next ambush Adam falls asleep under some brush. He is awakened by Cousin Simmons and the Reverend searching for his body and talking about him. He calls to them, to their relief, and they send him home. He returns home and is greeted by Levi, who walks him into the house. It is occupied by mourners, Ruth, Granny, and Sarah. The latter sends him to get Moses a coffin and take it to the church. After a brief conversation with the coffin-maker he returns home. He eats dinner, then Sarah sends him to light candles by Moses' coffin. Ruth accompanies him and they talk for a while, until he walks her home. Then he himself goes home and to bed.
Themes[edit]
Several major themes arise in the novel. Although the most common theme picked up on is coming of age, several others have been noted. These others are non-violence, the rights of man, and the truth.[4]
The first theme, coming of age, deals with Adam's becoming a man during the Battle of Lexington. After Moses is killed on the green, Adam is thrust into manhood. Vomiting and sobbing after the battle, he then returns home to be treated as the man of the house, against his wishes.[4]
The theme of nonviolence is based on Moses' belief in solving problems through arguments, rather than warfare. This theme is also supported by Adam's later saying "I don't hate anyone enough to kill him." The rights of man appears several times through Moses' speeches. Also, the colonists are drafting a statement on the rights of man to send to Boston.[4]
For the truth theme, several conflicts have been noted in the first chapter, such as Moses' talking against superstition yet birching Adam seven times.[5]
Background[edit]
York has said that Fast's view on the revolution (that aligns with his political beliefs) is exhibited in the novel. He says "[Fast] believed the essence of the revolution was with the faceless and nameless people who fought it."[6] Also, The New York Times says that "[Fast] proposes that Solomon Chandler organized the Battle of Lexington.[7]
Reception[edit]
The novel received many positive reviews. Hunter praised Fast for writing it for "demonstrat[ing] a more mature vision."[1] Desrosiers agreed, saying that April Morning "[is] a well written work which knits together the events of the 19th of April 1775."[8] Macdonald also praised Fast for "A virtually perfect relationship between literary character and research."[9]
Adaptations[edit]
The novel was adapted for TV in the Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1988 by James Lee Barrett. It was directed by Delbert Mann.[10] It stars Chad Lowe as Adam and Tommy Lee Jones as Moses. Although it is set at the very beginning of the American Revolution it is more about Adam's journey to manhood and his relationship with his parents.[11]
Publication information[edit]
April Morning, by Howard Fast. Originally published 1961. Mass Market Paperback: Bantam, 1983. ISBN 978-0-553-27322-9
See also[edit]
- List of films about the American Revolution
- List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution
References[edit]
- ^ a b Hunter, Jeffrey W. (2000). "Howard Fast (1914-)". Contemporary Literary Criticism. 131: 49–103. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ Gunning, Sally. "History Made Real in 'April Morning'". National Public Radio. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ Kalijarvi, Mary G. (1975). "Bicentennial Browsing: Rx for English Teachers, a Cure for Bicentennial Blues". The English Journal. 64 (6): 64–70. doi:10.2307/815959. JSTOR 815959.
- ^ a b c "Theme Analysis". Novel Guide.
- ^ Collamore, Elizabeth (November 1969). "False Starts and Distorted Vision in "April Morning"". The English Journal. 58 (8): 1186–1188. doi:10.2307/811532. JSTOR 811532.
- ^ York, Neil L. (2009). "Howard Fast's American Revolution". American Studies. 50 (3–4): 85–106. doi:10.1353/ams.2009.0035. S2CID 145154976. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ Hal Erickson (2007). "April Morning (1988)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ Desrosiers, Marian. "Teaching with Historical Fiction: Grade 8 U.S. History from Revolution to Reconstruction" (PDF). Tahamore Perfect Union. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ Macdonald, Andrew (1996). Howard Fast: A Critical Companion. Westport, Connecticut. ISBN 978-0-313-29493-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Hallmark Hall of Fame Episode Guide, 1987-88 season Accessed 2011 March 26
- ^ Szul, Barbara (23 April 1988). ""April Morning," a film version of Howard Fast's 1961..." Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 May 2013.