Although the two novels When the Legends Die by Hal Borland and April Morning by Howard Fast have very different themes and plots, they share many similarities through quotes. A quote that I chose that relates to both Thomas Black Bull and Adam Cooper of the two books is from April Morning: "As I was falling asleep, I said farewell to a childhood, a world, a secure and sun-warmed existence and past that was over with and gone away for all time." I found that this quote relates to both of the books in three major ways. Both Tom and Adam have said farewell to their childhood through experiences and losses that only a truly grown man could cope with. Both characters realized that their childhood was "over and gone away for all time" once they became men rather than boys. They knew that all they had been through would not permit them to fall back into the past.
Childhood Wood - geograph.org.uk - 511848
English: British journalist Adam Boulton of Sky Ne...
English: Australian rugby union player Adam Ashley...Lastly, both Tom and Adam had easier, or as my quote says "secure and sun-warmed" childhoods compared to what they went through as men.
Tom Black and Adam Cooper both made a rough transition into manhood. Adam Cooper lost his father in a hopeless battle, and after fighting in a long, arduous battle to avenge his father's death, Adam was deemed a man by his family; as well as by himself. Tom Black also suffered from an upsetting experience to become a man. After a fair childhood living in the old way with his parents, Tom's parents died, leaving him alone in the world. This event, in my mind, marked the beginning of Tom's manhood, since only someone with the mind and willpower of a grown man could endure such a harrowing event.
Once Tom Black had left his childhood...