1 September 2004
Johnny Got His Gun Journal
Page: 7
Response:
“I won’t forget you and I’m not as sorry for you today as I was yesterday.” I found this a bit bizarre, because one would normally be sympathetic to his or her father’s death especially if he were a good father. That is why when Joe states this quote as if he is gradually beginning to lose sympathy for his father’s death, I start to search for why he says so. Perhaps, he is suffering such an immense amount of pain that he would rather die like his father and be put to peace than to be living in pain. I think there is a good portion of the sick population, especially those suffering from terminal illnesses, that want to just end it all, because living off of machines may not be worth living at all. On the other hand, some may depend on spirituality, faith, and hope for some miraculous recovery, so they endure through the pain until a verdict is reached by a greater being. They may believe and live out fate even if fate means death.
Page: 14
Response:
“The piano kept time with the bell and the bell with the piano and in back of it there was thick silence and a yearning to listen and lonesomeness.” The telephone ring is the bearer of bad news. From this war alone, deaths become ordinary like the monotony of a bell. When one event repetitively occurs, few seem to dwell on the event until those few people turn out to be parents, siblings, friends, or loved ones. Death is not like any other event, because the individual loss affects at least one other person on Earth.
In_two_views
How selfish can you be?
You don’t know what I’m going through.
I will never see what you see.
Think about your friends and family!
It’s my time; here’s my cue.
How selfish can you be?
Whatever happened to your positive energy?
There’s not much more that I can do.
I will never see what you see.
So where’s the rest of your body?
In pieces just like the truth.
How selfish can you be?
You’re alive so be happy!
I might as well be dead then too.
I will never see what you see.
Things happen for a reason. Don’t you agree?
Not this—if you only knew…
How selfish can you be?
That I will never see…
The title is more or less supposed to sound like the word “interview” in which this question and answer type of format makes the poem sort of like an interview. The twist is on the actual phrase which is “in two views” because the interviewer does not understand Joe’s viewpoint. The a,b,a,a,b,a,a,b,a,a,b,a,a,b,a,a,b,a,a rhyme scheme also represents the two people conversing where rhyme a follows the interviewer’s questions and responses and where rhyme b signifies Joe’s answers. The exception is at the end where the last two lines are of the “a” rhyme but is used for both speakers. The second refrain is adjusted a bit to fit as Joe’s response. In an attempt to achieve just one perspective on this issue, Joe instead continues his statement of “Not this—if you only knew…” with a variation on the refrain that was used by the interviewer only which was supposed to be “I will never see what you see.” However, the word “see” serves as a pun for both not being able to comprehend in the view of the interviewer but literally in Joe’s view.
Page: 24
Response:
“You never really knew what the fight was all about.” Joe realizes probably only after he experiences the traumatic effects of war that there was no good reason to fight. I can relate to this on a much smaller scale regarding quarrels with family and friends. My epiphany only comes at the end even though I believe that what I am defending or arguing about is well worth it while I am in the middle of the dispute. For instance, I used to argue with my brother, Paul, quite frequently when we were younger over petty discussions that would become overblown. We would verbally bash at each other mercilessly until we finally receive the necessary punishment for our actions. So I asked myself… “Was it really worth it?” With the stupidity of it all, it was evidently a foolish move to make for the much greater consequences. Joe must feel the same way; only in his case, he cannot back away from being drawn into the military while my brother and I could have drawn away from starting a petty argument. Joe did not know what he was fighting for and yet he has permanent handicaps as a result of the “pointless” war.
Page: 25
Response:
His struggle of floating and sinking parallels the world’s struggle with war. The simplicity of the floating solution suggests that there are simpler, more effective solutions to war. He probably implies that war, simplified into terms of constant fighting and struggling, is a foolish and trifling solution to resolve any conflict especially when there are better options. This is where a concept such as a peaceful pact parallels the floating solution used to control Joe’s struggle in the water except the simplicity of a peaceful pact solution resolves the struggle in war. Thus, war can be prevented, and a better solution could resolve the same conflict thought to be only solvable by war in a much more civilized way. Like Joe says, one cannot continually fight. I also strongly support his view of criticizing the government and military in signing away people’s lives for a battle that really means little to the soldiers personally. What exactly are we fighting for and is it really worth it?
Page: 27
Response:
“They couldn’t do it the dirty bastards they couldn’t do it. They had to have a paper signed or something. It was the law.” I find it quite ironic how law basically dictates what our rights are, and yet the law, the government rather than the concept, can eliminate law entirely and make exceptions to force people to enlist and serve. Since the everyday people have no say in whether or not they have to serve for their country, the government has basically taken away their freedom of speech. Despite the times, whatever a “time of crisis” may be, and the vague, unwritten law stating that the government can do as it wills whenever it feels the need to sacrifice the country’s citizens, people should be able to choose to fight for what they really believe in since it is their lives that they are sacrificing. Each individual does not live as a chess piece that the government can just sacrifice in an attempt at a goal that is not even guaranteed to be successful.
Page: 38
Response:
Our national anthem, the “Star-Spangled Banner”, is a national symbol like the American flag or the Statue of Liberty. Trumbo expresses the typical pre-war events expressing pride and freedom to ignite the country’s soldiers’ motivations. However, Trumbo also blends that with Joe’s concentration on merely saying and waving goodbye to his loved ones which is probably every soldier’s last move before departure. Therefore, the author is contrasting the senseless meaning of the anthem with what really matters in a man’s life which is his family, friends, and spouse or girlfriend. It makes me rethink about every time we pledge our allegiance to the flag or when we stand in respect for the anthem whether or not we know what we are actually doing when we do those two actions that come almost automatically to U.S. citizens. Every time we do either, do we really stand with pride and pledge our allegiance or sing the anthem? For me, after the first few times, I began to look past the meaning, and each time has become a repetition of custom rather than an act of patriotism.
Page: 54
Response:
“The awful thing was that she had done something he couldn’t forgive her for ever no matter how much he wanted to. And he did want to. He did want to awfully. But he never could… He thought why everybody has a best friend.” A universal statement can be made about humans and friendships or relationships in general: the closer you are to a person, the more painful it is to see and feel the way that he or she hurts you. I have always tried to find reason to human instincts like how we grow to have expectations for people even though certain acts such as cheating with a friend’s girlfriend has been done before. Joe had said that he “could have forgiven her for Glen Hogan” (54) who had no influence on Joe, but since it was his best friend that stole the girl that he wanted to be with, the friendship would never work out just because of this lust that has been terminated by Joe’s best friend, Bill Harper. I guess the possibility of this lust turning into love and his trust in Bill permanently destroyed both relationships. This is also why I question concepts that are intangible such as trust, faith, and love. How can we put so much confidence into a single person when we know it is likely for us to get hurt? How can we believe in faith when we have been let down so many times even if we claim that things happen for a reason? The greatest mystery of all though is love. We cannot explain it, but we feel it without being able to put it into words. How could that be? You would think that since the beginning of mankind, there would be some word created to define this feeling that is so almighty. And exactly what is this characteristic that sets the one you love apart from everyone else? Apparently, it is unique to the individual and that is why we can find someone repulsive while another person may find that same person rather attractive. Have we come to accept certain standards from our original “loved ones” like family and friends to apply to our future husbands or wives? If so and if the standards were not set too high, then couldn’t multiple people be susceptible to “loving” the same person? I know circumstances and chance narrows it down to one usually, but doesn’t it make you think about the major what-ifs like what if there was someone better out there for you that you just haven’t met yet? I figure that I will find this love with time so until then I will be dwelling on these complexities for some time.
Page: 63
Response:
“If he could only breathe he could die.” This statement is a contradiction within itself. Breathing is usually associated with living, but Joe finds the gift of breathing as his passageway to death which is ultimately a gift for him. His condition is dreadful, because what we often consider to be a happy medium cannot exist for Joe. He basically is an example of the living dead. He cannot physically move that much, cannot use any of his senses except for the feeling of vibrations, and the most disheartening hindrance is his inability to communicate with the rest of the world. He lives in a forlorn and lonely world of his own behind a mask and layer of clothing, not even behind his own skin. His last solution would be death, because prolonging his so-called life is torture. He breathes and has the unfortunate ability to think, worry, and grieve, but is so close to being dead that he is being teased the luxury of depleting all of the negativity that comes along with reminiscing old times and the hopelessness that his future provides.
Page: 84
Response:
“…so here he was alive and they couldn’t kill him now because that would be murder.”
He is alive and breathing. Therefore, people assume that he is content with just the fact that he has survived such a tremendous blow. Although he is considered physically healthy, no one considers his mental health that could hurt and scar more than just feeling the physical pain. If he wanted to die, but no one knew about his wishes, should we then consider it murder or euthanasia? I pity Joe for having to suffer so much while living, but at the same time, I don’t think there was much that anyone could do about it. From one perspective, it would have been murder if the doctors just took Joe’s life away without his say in it. Also, family and friends would have sued, and there would have been a big ordeal about the doctors’ decision even if the doctors had a hint about Joe’s wishes after examining him for so long. However, from Joe’s point of view, he is basically dead anyway so why let him breathe and think to prolong this torture?
Page: 86
Response:
“A million to one ten million to one there was always the one. And he was it. He was the guy who had lost.” There is a great feeling of being at the other end of a statistic when the statistics are showing the rarity of a positive event occurring, and you happen to be it. An example would be winning the lottery without considering how wealth may be able to change a person for the better or worse. Nevertheless, Joe is stuck with a figure that may change his attitude of thought and his faith. He suffers from the other end of luck: bad luck. Often, I resort to the conclusion that things always happen for a reason. There is no doubt in my mind if a catastrophe as drastic as what Joe has gone through had happened to me, I would question the reason as to why it had to happen to me out of all the billions of people in this world. I would begin to have a pessimistic outlook on life as if this disaster has occurred to me, because it was just my time to go. However, those who are or who will become stronger and overlook the pessimism may think that this really isn’t a bad thing at all, as if this happened to you in order to change the outlook of the world. Joe apparently has his own idea about drafting, and he, himself, is an example of what may possibly be an outcome of enlisting out of his will. There is always that vague line between what is good and bad, and what had happened to Joe is usually seen as something bad. Word associations such as “handicap” will automatically give a sense of some sort of bad hindrance, but who knows if it has improved the handicap’s life or not. We cannot always assume, but in this case, I assume that Joe has the typical outlook on his situation that his missing limbs serve as a major handicap.
Page: 100
Response:
Not even Joe’s thoughts belong to him anymore. To be robbed of one’s own thoughts is unthinkable, because they come from a unique mind from just the individual. However, he still cannot tell the difference between reality and dream. Therefore, he cannot trust his own thoughts. This makes Joe insane, because without the ability to trust the authenticity of his thoughts, he cannot determine if even his existence is real. I relate this moment of his to my own experiences and many others’ I presume. It’s almost as if your mind goes blank, and suddenly you realize where you are and what you’re doing. Then, you question if the situation is even real, because you would never expect yourself to get into such a situation. On a much smaller scale, my personal experience with this was with a phone call. I haven’t spoken with this friend of mine for a long time, but then the conversation went sour, and I was so thrown off by the results of me taking initiative that I thought I was dreaming. Joe’s circumstance is like a much more serious and permanent version of my little mishap.
Page: 110
Response:
“There are plenty of laws to protect guys money even in war time but there’s nothing on the books says a man’s life’s his own.” I think this is similar to a previous entry, but I just find this concept out of this world; it’s unbelievable. Considering all the laws out there, there is not a single law that can protect a healthy man from being drafted to risk his life on the lines for “his country.” Amusing how we have laws to protect us from being robbed of money and property, yet we don’t have this law to enable us to keep them anyway if we get drafted.
Page: 117
Response:
“He knew all the answers that the dead knew and couldn’t think about. He could speak for the dead because he was one of them.” The idea of Joe being proof of the living dead becomes quite a repetition in Johnny Got His Gun. Limbless, speechless, and basically living in a world of his own within the confinements of the little bodily remains that are left, he might as well be dead. Joe may represent all the dead soldiers but what sets him apart from them is the fact that he is not emotionless. Even though he cannot communicate his emotions, he can still think and feel for the dead. This gave me new insight into what the term the “living dead” could possibly mean now. At first, I drowned myself into all the science fiction and games that are released related to zombies and all those other ethereal creatures that, in my mind, were the “living dead.” When I came upon this declaration, I can finally apply that same term with someone real which is Joe. He is the perfect example of the living dead, because the only parts of his body that are keeping him alive are his heart, brain, and lungs. Every other part of his body is dysfunctional, so he is like a mummy with the ability to breathe. Trapped, it is as if Joe was buried alive in his own body.
Page: 139
Response:
Joe can finally tell the difference between day and night. By doing so, it connects him to the rest of the world, because he would know morning from night just like normal people. With everything else that he was secluded from, time “was the only real thing. It was everything” (126). He could now picture the normal routines of what happened during the morning hours and the evening hours. He could finally be somewhat alive just by knowing time. Like the saying goes: “We never know what we have until it is gone.” Although this is usually applied to losing people, I think that most of the healthy population take their health and their senses for granted. Personally, I often compare my petty troubles with greater issues that many people are facing such as terminal illnesses or cancer or poverty. This helps me look past my problem just by putting it into perspective and how much worse I could be. For Joe, to hear the birds in the morning, to smell the roses in the park, to taste homemade cooking, to see the beauty of nature, and to finally touch and embrace his loved ones are probably the only things he wants now that he is crippled, handicapped, and robbed of all these senses that we, who still have them, take for granted.
Page: 160
Response:
Joe wants to be seen in two different ways depending on who sees him. He wants to show off his ghastly battle wounds and injuries to the generals and soldiers who had the nerve to simply give him a medal for his lost of life. Yet, he wants to hide from family and Kareen, embarrassed and scared to show his condition to them. In a way, we all want to be versatile and have that double image. More commonly, we change our reputation towards people based on who they are and basically what relationship they have with you. For example, I can be strange and carefree around my peers and friends, but when I’m around my parents, I try to appear mature and responsible. In the same way as Joe, I want certain people to see the real side of me like my best friend, but I can easily hide behind a façade when I want to and to whom I want to.
Page: 178
Response:
Towards the end of Chapter XIV, I lost the meaning to what Trumbo was trying to incorporate into this novel. Joe’s thoughts seemed so scattered, and to me, they were quite perplexed. He skips from one random scenario to the next within the same chapter which stops the smooth and comfortable flow that had once existed until that point. I became frustrated with this section and basically disregarded it, because I really found no point to the madness of it all. I also wasted my time in an attempt to figure it out, but I was unsuccessful in the end anyway.
Page: 183
Response:
“Yet he was one of them he was part of them he too was a slave.” Joe makes many comparisons of his life and a slave’s life. He even stated that he was basically taken from his home unwillingly to do another man’s dirty work like a slave. Though his case is much worse he claims, because unlike a slave, he could not die at his will. For one, this is a new perspective on a soldier’s life. There is so much hype about pride and honor through service, but this pride and honor means nothing if it takes away the proud and honorable life to begin with. Serving for one’s country has become a business. Marketing, advertising, and promotions have taken over such as how they will pay a student a certain amount of money needed for college. I think the truth of this book is so real that I am beginning to conform to Trumbo’s beliefs. Still, I believe that more adults than teenagers are scared of straying away from the traditional beliefs of what serving for one’s country is all about due to America’s history with wars.
Page: 208 & 214
Response:
Joe’s experiences and influence is compared to that of Jesus Christ. He has become the messiah to soldiers. He is of the few who is not afraid to speak the truth when the rest of the world would avoid even bringing up the topic, knowing that it is not a common belief during that time when patriotism became the new fad. Even if it is not spoken of, Joe has put into words what every suffering soldier thinks of when they are in the lines fighting for some pointless opinion on a world issue. If we truly value life as much as humans usually claim to, then there are much better solutions to trivial problems between countries. This is a rather legitimate opinion, because countries seem to have their own personalities like people do. If it is possible for people to work out problems without fist to fist fighting, then so can countries.
Page: 220
Response:
“It was as if someone who longed for the sea and a ship were suddenly given his ship and then asked where he wanted to go.” This reminds me of my many efforts to achieve certain goals without knowing what to do after I have achieved them. I remember working so hard towards projects for school, and then receiving satisfactory grades for them. After that, I didn’t know how I should feel, because I expected the grades for so long due to my hard work. When I got them, it became a smaller issue than what it had been prior to getting my grades. With my parents, many wants need to be argued with good reason. Therefore, it is a great deal of work to try to obtain what I want. Sometimes, I argue my case for so long and dwell on the case rather than the goal so much that when I get what I want, I don’t know what I would need it for in the end. Ironic how I can make a great case, and yet, end up agreeing with my parents.
Page: 234-35
Response:
Joe’s final request was to leave the hospital to be able to enter the real world to show off the real him. However, his request is supposedly “against regulations.” He should be given that right of being released even if it is just for what he has gone through for the country’s government. For it to be against so-called “regulations” for him to leave hospital vicinities is absurd, because one cannot refuse freedom to the physically deformed. What happened to the equal opportunity and no discrimination? Though, I guess his situation is different only because Joe will affect many people’s view on the draft. The only reason it is against regulation is due to the fact that officials are scared of letting the rest of the world know some part of the truth when you go to war. A scary sight he may be, but the government has sacrificed yet another life to maintain the lies that are preached every day in the name of America.
Page: 243
Response:
I never really questioned the title other than interpreting it with its literal meaning. The final words of Johnny Got His Gun, however, finally defines the deeper impact that the title has for the readers. “You plan the wars you masters of men plan the wars and point the way and we will point the gun.” If one just reads that statement, it sounds as if we are at the country’s disposal. Within context and the few pages prior to that final statement, the reader will come to a conclusion that man will one day win this war with those who have created them. If we are provided with arms to serve in the army, we will not point the gun at each other from the two sides of a line but rather at those who have called us to fight. I find this a very strong closing declaration, and it really left a good mark which basically summarizes what the novel was patronizing which is the freedom and right to own our own lives.