Book Of Joe Analysis
1263 Words6 Pages
The Book of Joe is a novel written by Jonathan Tropper that describes Joe Goffman’s revisit to his hometown. According to Wikipedia’s article “Jonathan Tropper”, the themes of his books often reflect his own life. This is probably why his writing, at least in The Book of Joe, feels so personal.
In the beginning of the book you find out that Joe left his hometown, with no intention of returning and also wrote a book called Bush Falls. The book is mostly biographical, describing his childhood and many people in the town in a negative way. When his father ends up in a coma, his return to Bush Falls is met by anger. The book describes his journey when reliving his childhood as well as dealing with the people who dislike him. Joe is without doubt the main character in the book, and is also the one telling the story most of the time. Therefore, this analysis will focus on Joe’s development through the novel and the metaphors describing his life.
In the beginning of the novel you get the impression that Joe is wealthy, successful and generally happy with his life. For every page you read, you increasingly understand how unhappy and lonely he is. Quite early in the story Joe explains how he can’t stay in a relationship for a long time, they always end the same way. Owen, his publisher, seems to be his only friend, but somehow Joe doesn’t realize his loneliness at first.
The reason I believe he doesn’t comprehend his loneliness is because he is in
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Although he is set to be released in less than two years, he does not obtain the help he needs while in prison, where he has resided for almost three decades. It is a devastating story because most people do not understand the help he needs. It's the people who would surprise you the most that do. One of Joe’s Inmates noticed Joe’s severe mental disability, “An inmate incarcerated with Joe writes to EJI about Joe's abuse and his disability" (“Joe Sullivan Character Analysis” N.P.). This inmate realized that Joe does not deserve to be in prison, but instead needs help getting out so that he can receive the help that he needs.
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The fact that the story happens based on a traditional father and son camping trip shows their strong bond. The story does not point out the conversation between Joe and his father; for a little while his father didn’t say a thing. Then he said why sure go along Joe (Trumbo).The unknown dialogue gives a picture of the situation the father is facing while Joe is mentioning Bill Harper. This also shows how Joe is growing up and viewing this place differently and wanting to experience differently. The place that represents Joe’s childhood will covert him into a young man as he changes the tradition.
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