The War Within

"The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War," by Carol Matas, is narrated in the first person by the book's main character, Hannah Green. Hannah is a 13-year old Jewish girl who lives with her slave-owning family in Mississippi during the time of the U.S. Civil War. In the course of the war Ulysses S. Grant orders the expulsion of all Jews from the territory he controls. The novel explores the impact of the war in general, and Grant's expulsion order in particular, on Hannah and the other characters. Matas has created a complex and compelling human tapestry. It's not a simple "good guys" versus "bad guys" equation. Hannah's world is filled with a diverse group of characters--Jew and gentile, slave and free, Confederate and Union, soldier and civilian, abolitionist and pro-slavery, male and female. Ironically, some characters suffer the impact of anti-Semitism even while they perpetuate racism against African-Americans. As the story unfolds, Matas' characters debate vital issues, such as abolitionism, the role of religion in war, and Jewish solidarity across the Confederate/Union divide. Hannah's opening lines declare, "The war has changed everything. And it has changed me." A key theme in the book is the complexity of Hannah's multiple overlapping identities as a Confederate, a Jew, a "white" person, a "Southern lady," etc. These identities basically get deconstructed in the turbulence of war. Matas deals frankly with the violence and destruction of war. She creates some powerful conflict and biting dialogue. Matas also supplements the main text with information about the history behind the story, and with insight into the research that went into the writing of the book. Hannah--flawed but admirable--is a powerfully rendered character, and her story is a well-written and thought-provoking narrative about a fascinating aspect of the Civil War.

A War within- what does this mean? When you look at these words you think? Maybe a family is split from the Civil War, or maybe a family is discouraged about something. In a way both are true. In the Green family this is true. As young Hannah struggles about the war, she has many thoughts running through her head: is slavery wrong or is the South (her home) right. Her brother and father are gone at war. Her sister falls in love with a Yankee soldier. What is she supposed to do? Then to top it off she has been removed from her home because she is Jewish. As all this comes down on her soldiers, her servant (or slave) leaves them with their cook to join the Union army. With all this emotion she has to decide who is right? The South or the North.A element to describe this book is suspense.

This book caught me by surprise I thought that it would be about a young boy in the south during wartime. However it was about a young American girl, whose religion made her along with her family unwanted. The family was removed from their home and their town because they were Jewish. Through out the hardships she encounters, she learns hard lessons about life and about the equality of man and woman. It is a great twist on the view of the Revolutionary war. I enjoyed this book a lot because there are few books that are based on the point of view of a girl through a war. This would be a great book to introduce the importance of treating others they way you wanted to be treated. The author does a great job at teaching respect for each other.

Carol Matas' novel "The War Within" tells of a situation during the Civil War we don't know much about. In Holly Springs, Mississippi 1802, Hannah Green keeps a journal on the accounts of 2 weeks during the Civil War. Her family owns a general store in the small Southern town who is for slavery, but the war has ruined her beloved town and family. Her father and two older brothers have already gone to fight the war for the south and when the Union army occupies her belove town Hannah is furious. Plus her sister Joanna has also fallen in love with Captain Mazer of the Union---the same Union that has split her family. When General Grant issues General Order #11, which commands all Jew to evacute the his territory the Greens are forced to leave their beloved home. It is on this journey that Hannah learns her views on slavery might not be exactly right with the help of Captain Mazer. For the first time she realizes the discrimination her family receives because they are Jew is very similar to the treatment of slaves. As she battles her own war "within" Hannah begins to realize the true meaning of the War.

Thirteen-year-old Hannah Green and her family are Jews living in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1863. The Civil War is raging, and the Green family are Southern supporters. Hannah's father has always gone along with the Southern way of life, including owning slaves, because he was so relieved to be accepted in Holly Springs, unlike back in Germany. For many years, the Greens have peacefully run their store, but now the war is changing everything. General Grant passes Order #11, which expels all Jews from the territory under his control. On the long march, bitter with anger over the loss of her home, Hannah blames the Yankees for everything. It takes the actions of one good man, a Northern soldier who helps save the lives of Hannah and her family, for her to realize her narrow-mindedness, and to realize her own family's practice of owning slaves is as wrong as the order that forced the Green family and other Southern Jews from their homes. This was a unique historical novel offering a different perspective on the Civil War.