His youth, his freedom, his happiness, and his future were all taken by war generals and older (upper class) men who are happy to take young (lower class) men’s lives for indistinct causes. Words like ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ are intangible. Joe knows that his suffering is a fate worse than death. Contrasted with his current situation, these events take on an indescribable beauty. He thinks back on many of the very ordinary incidents of his life-his first true love, fishing with his dad, goofing around with his friends, working hard in a commercial bakery. He detects daytime by the warmth he feels. In order not to lose his mind, he times the visits to get an idea of the passing days. Unable to communicate with others, Joe’s world consists of waiting for the nurse to bathe him. Otherwise, why would the doctors have worked to save him? He is isolated, with tubes into his lungs and stomach for air and nourishment. They may have survived the blast, but then were amputated to stop infection. And that he is mute and unable to smell, having lost the features of his face in the blast. What he does slowly discover is that he is deaf from the blast. When he comes to consciousness afterward, in a hospital, he doesn’t know how much time has passed. Johnny Gun His Gun is a novel that asks this question through the tragedy of World War I soldier Joe Bonham.įighting in Europe, Joe steps on a land mine and is blown to pieces-almost. The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind Yes, an’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
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