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Character Analysis: Johnny Got His Gun

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The Complications of Personal Investment
Personal investment is providing one’s body, belongings and/or your beliefs toward a cause which shapes not only personality, but one’s stance on how something should be handled. Many people personally invest their money towards materialistic items, invest their time toward certain beliefs, or invest their body toward many situations. Nevertheless, war can be one of the most important and dangerous personal investments, which can change one’s perspective forever. In the classic World War I novel, Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, the author puts Joe Bonham through an immense change in his belief towards his personal investment in war. Correspondingly, the 1965 American Civil War movie, Shenandoah, by Andrew V. McLaglen, the …show more content…

Johnny Got His Gun and Shenandoah both vary in their approach, but reveal a similar purpose by exploring the consequences of personal investment in war through the characters of Joe Bonham and Jacob Anderson. In Johnny Got His Gun, Joe was faced with one of the worst consequences known to man as his communication with the outside world was cut off. As Joe was fighting in war, he was caught in the blast of an exploding artillery shell. This caused him to lose all of his limbs and senses including his arms, legs, eyes, ears, nose, teeth, and tongue. These conditions left him with a perfectly functioning mind as he was trapped as a prisoner of his own body. Joe was so focused on the fact that war was going to bring him the liberty, freedom, and democracy he was fighting for, when reality truly became known and none of his hopes seemed to be important. His normal life was now changed forever and the realization that this war was not his fight took place. This leads to the supposition that there are much greater consequences resulting from war, hence showing that personal

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Personal investment exposed through Johnny Got His Gun and Shenandoah As a human, being personally invested in what you do is high on the importance scale. Writers have analyzed the theme of personal investment in literature and movies. A book that explores this theme is a World War I story, Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo. It takes in consideration the realizations of a young soldier, Joe, on what he truly believes is worth fighting for.

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