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Johnny Got His Gun Essay

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In Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, Joe Bonham becomes disabled due to a shell explosion, when fighting, in World War I. While Joe is hospitalized, he learns that he has lost his arms, his legs, his ears, his eyes, and most of his face. Although it seems impossible for Joe to be able to communicate with the outside world, he finds ways to talk with his nurses and doctors: tapping, shaking and swaying back and forth. The novel is written in a way that frequently alternates between Joe’s childhood memories and his current state. By doing so, it allows the reader to distinguish the differences between Joe’s previous life and the life he has now. To the nurses and doctors, Joe seems almost dead, but inside of Joe’s head, he experiences his feelings and ideas towards war and memories from his life. Joe's contrast between his active mind and his useless body, causes him to wonder whether his life is worth fighting for.
In the novel, descriptive language is used to help the reader understand what Joe is going through. Chapter five exemplifies Joe’s battle for life by displaying Joe as drowning. He talks about how stressful and aggravating it is to watch himself drown and not …show more content…

In chapter 5, specifically, Joe shows the reader how much love he has for Kareen. He also mentions how much he misses Kareen, feeling like she is becoming distant from him as he drowns. “Stay closer Kareen. Don’t go away. Closer closer Kareen and watch out for the water coming over your face. I can’t turn over on my stomach to swim Kareen I can only float so please don’t go so far away.”(57). It’s odd that Joe feels so deeply for a woman that he witnessed cheating on him with his best friend. Not many people would fight to stay alive solely for an individual who didn’t treat them with kindness and respect, but Joe somehow still

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