The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh Sparknotes

Imagine you were sent to fight in the war at such a young age, how would you feel? The story “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” by Ray Bradbury tells a great story about a drummer boy during the Civil War. There was no age requirement so many drummer boys were about ten years old. This story tells a historical fiction about a 14-year-old boy named Joby, who is scared to fight. Though he is scared, he is forced to face his fear by the generals and learn a valuable lesson. In the story, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” Ray Bradbury reveals the theme that the true courage is overcoming fears in the face of adversity, through the use of symbolism, characterization, and setting. To begin, Bradbury uses symbolism to convey the theme, the true courage is overcoming your fears in the face of adversity.

The story “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” states, “He smelled as all fathers should smell.’All right, Joby, don’t stir.’ A hand pressed his chest gently, and the boy relaxed.’You want to cry some more, go on ahead. I did the same last night.men actually die, in war. So each his own army. I got to make an army of them. And for that, boy, I need you.” This proves the symbolism of a father figure. It states, “He smelled as all fathers should smell,” this symbolizes how Joby sees and feels as if the general was like a father figure to him. The general calms Joby by telling him that he can cry if he wanted, that it's normal to cry at such times, and that he did the same thing. He tells Joby that he is not the only one feeling this and that it will be alright. He shows Joby that though he thinks he will be useless, he is not. He makes him realize that he is important to the war and that he will be one who will make a change. That they need him to be. This pushes and encourages Joby to face his fears and that he shouldn’t just let his fears take over