Pat Carr's Character Analysis

Throughout time there has always been wars, and the hardships that follow shortly behind. The novella, Leaving Gilead by Pat Carr, the Civil War has began to engulf the Balm-of-Gilead Plantation. Ian Birdsong heads off as a confederate captain in the Arkansas 14th, leaving his daughter Saranell, his wife Geneva, and all of his slaves to keep the plantation running. As the Yankees crept closer to their home Geneva, Saranell, and the recently bought slave Renny, head off in hopes of evading the approaching abolitionists. As they travel, they inevitably cross paths with men who have been changed by the war, and not for the better. War brings out the worst in people.
In war, yes one side is victorious, but does anyone really win war? Saranell received a letter from her father, Ian, that tells about his latest battle, and she shares it with Renny. "'There's been a battle with the enemy, and Papa's troop won. That's good news, don't you think?'...'Probably not for the captain, lieutenant, two sergeants, and three privates,' he said"(Carr 88). Renny is a realist. He sees the world how it is, not how he wants it to be. He explains to Saranell that war is not just win or lose. In Night by Ellie Wiesel the world has been engulfed by World War II and Ellie is living through the living hell that is camp Birkenau. At the
Opal Fisk, when he has the chance to benefit off of the less fortunate, he will cheat them without a regret. When Tray comes across a mother and her child who clearly need help. Instead of helping them, chooses to to harm them for his own pleasure. In the true story Night, Ellie Wiesel falls victim to the worst of people. He shows us how people have been changed throughout the course of WWII. Renny sees war how it is, where people are fortunate to escape, injured, or killed, but all are changed during and for the rest of their lives. War brings out the worst in