The Effects of War

The central theme of The March is the myriad of ways in which the Civil War impacts the lives of the book's diverse cast of characters and the South itself. Much of the focus is on the natives of the South, as their individual lives and, in fact, their entire civilization, are being uprooted as Sherman's troops march through the region, but the reader also sees how their experiences impact the Union soldiers and officers.

The war has the greatest effect on the lives of Pearl and her fellow slaves, who are now free but do not yet have a real sense of what that will mean for them. Their freedom means they have been displaced from the only lives they have known, and the only homes they have known, so they somewhat aimlessly begin following Sherman's army toward the North because they simply do...