Essay, Research Paper: Johnny Got His Gun

JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN

"Johnny Got His Gun" was about Joe Bonham, a young man who was sent off to World War 1, sharing a feeling with most of the other youth of America, that he was invincible. Joe gets hit by a shell and goes unconscious; not knowing what has happened.
As the novel progresses, Joe realizes that he is never leaving the hospital, and that he would rather be dead.
The factors that unfold during Joe's hospital stay is that he has no idea where he is, other than the fact that it is a hospital that is not on the battle-front, because he feels that the doctors needed a long time to work on his battered body. Also, he knows that his family doesn't know where he is
I noticed a theme of Joe slipping into and out of consciousness, of course, his definition of consciousness is being able to think. Most of the time where he is unconscious, he has flashbacks, like the night his father died.
About mid-way through the book, Joe realizes that he has lost his arms, legs, chin, mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. Basically, he realizes that he is a faceless stump. He breathes through a tube and gets fed through one.
Joe's only hope is that he will die soon. He tries many times to dislodge the tubes that he breathes through.
Joe's thoughts on honor and courage in terms of defending his country is that he at first wanted to make the world safe for democracy, but now that he is what he feels to be dead, but with a mind, he wants to show the world what wars are supposed to be fought about.
I think that the important event that happened to Joe was when he realized that by analyzing vibrations in the floor and hitting his head using morse code, he could communicate with people. He then realized that he didn't have to live wrapped in a sheet his whole life.
Joe resented the medal because he felt that the generals that gave it to him could only afford to "run around putting medals on guys".
As the dignitaries were leaving, Joe realized that he could communicate with people with Morse code and by analyzing vibrations in the floor. With this discovery that he made, Joe attempts to use Morse code to talk to his nurse. The first message that the nurse gave to him was writing on his stomach, which was "happy Christmas". Joe started communicating with Morse code.
In the final pages of the book, Joe wants desperately to deliver to the nations of the world the reality of war, and the results of war-him. He feels that by showing the people of the world what war's results are, then people will try to settle things peacefully.
By saying that he is the hope and future for the world, Joe thinks that by revealing the results of war, then wars will stop happening so much.
I felt that the doctors are the main blame for all of Joe's suffering.
Joe shows that he cannot continue on in the pain he is in, but the doctors will not let him die because they feel it is a miracle Joe survived through what he has. They show off their work they did on Joe to other doctors, and that is when Joe really understands that they do not have feelings or sensitivity towards him at all. He is just a product of their work. When he is able to communicate with the doctors through Morse code, the doctors ask what he wants. He tells them he wants out. He does not want to be held in the hospital anymore. The doctors say this is against regulations and cannot be done. Joe realizes why he is not allowed out. The doctors see him to be the future of society. In the future there will be another war and he is the product of this war. If men see him, they will not want to fight. So Joe is being kept in the hospital from the public.
Lastly, I feel that the absence of punctuation played a part in expressing Joe's emotions. It was a sign that there was no hope for Joe and that it didn't matter if the author used punctuation or not. In my opinion, the words without commas or apostrophes showed more emotion than any punctuation at all.