Johnny Got his Gun :: Essays Papers

Johnny Got his GunWhen I first started reading Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, I thought it would be more direct in its description of World War I. However, the full(a) novel takes place in one American soldiers hospital bed. His name is Joe. He no arms, legs, or face, and he is deaf. Rendered this direction after an explosive shell hit him, he has no counselling to communicate with the world.Joe dreams throughout the novel, mostly about his memories, and because of this, a great get across of the book is disjointed and contains a dreamlike quality. Through his dreams, I erudite about Joes life before the war. I learned he lost his father fairly young, and about his boyhood romances. Joe worked at the railroad, and at a bakery. Before he left for the war, he had a girlfriend named Kareen who I believe he wanted to marry.When Joe is awake, he at first is unconscious(predicate) of his injuries. He realizes he is deaf, but he goes through several stages of defensiv e measure and acceptance for his physical features. He thinks his face is only swathed in bandages, not gone. He thinks the doctors are injecting drugs into the heel of his hand, not the stub that was his arm. Only when Joe realizes hes missing his arms and legs and face, does he realize the full goal of his situation.Joe doesnt even know where he is, though he speculates that he could be in England, France, or possibly America. Joe knows that if his arms and legs didnt take form it through the shell blast that nearly killed him, his dog tags certainly didnt. He knows hell never see his sister or mother, or Kareen, his girlfriend, again. Hell never even know where he is.Joe learns to tell time by how practically the nurses come. He first figures out when dawn is by the warming of the suns rays on his skin. He then keeps count of how often the day and night nurses come between two dawns. When Joe finally gets it good (it takes several tries) he feels as though hes regai ned most sort of connection with the rest of the world.After five years, Joe is given a medal of honor for his efforts and losses in the war.