Johnny Got his Gun

Natalie Davis

Period 2

Argument essay

November 20, 2013

The famous war novel, Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, depicts the unfiltered thoughts of a World War I soldier, Joe Bonham.    Dalton Trumbo uses this character, Joe Bonham, to give a voice to the individual soldier.  During a time of war, the individual is lost among the masses, and the importance of a single life is diluted.  The writing style switches from first person to third person omniscient, which allows the audience to experience the raw and unfiltered perspective that Joe has on his participation in the war, and how he has been affected by it.  By signing away his life to the government’s disposal, he gives away all of his rights and becomes a prisoner of war.  

Through Joe’s eyes, he has been used by the government as a pawn in a game, disposable.  He feels betrayed by those who were supposed to hold his best intentions at heart, those who held his fate in their hands.  “You plan the wars you masters of men plans the wars and point the way and we will point the gun.”  (Trumbo.  243).  He directs the blame for his current condition to the “masters of men”, cowards who hide from the battlegrounds and call the shots from far away.   

It is the government who had convinced Joe to join the war efforts, tricking him by using propaganda and peer pressure.  Joe feels betrayed and used as he realizes that  his leaders have decided that Joe’s life is worth sacrificing in order to preserve democracy.  Although the propaganda influenced men to believe that they were fighting for liberty, only in pure silence and isolation does Joe truly understand what he was fighting for.  “A man doesn't say I will starve myself to death to keep from starving, or that he'd spend all of his money to save money. Why should he be willing to die for the privilege of living?”  A word.  He was fighting for something that was intangible, was of no direct use to him on an individual level.  Joe was never fighting for himself, he was fighting for something that was out of his control.  Joe was sent out to be slaughtered, along with many other soldiers, for a cause that never represented him or what he wanted.  

The rat enters the story as a way to remind Joe that he is helpless, and that he has lost all control over his life.  The rat eats away at Joe’s flesh in his dreams, representing the benefactors of war.  The rat is the enemy on both sides of the war; it reaps the benefits of the discarded bodies, and only takes from those who gave their lives for a cause.  Joe realizes that the men who he fought against were never the enemy, only men who were in the same condition as him, reflecting his fate.  

The men who declared the war, who held the lives of thousands at their disposal, were the true enemies.  In a similar situation, the novel, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, depicts the same scenario of representing the government as the true enemy.  Before the battle takes place, protagonist Katniss Everdeen is reminded that while she is in the arena, she is fighting against contestants who have all been selected against their will, acting as pawns in the Hunger Games.   It is President snow that is the epitome of evil and holds their lives in his hands, and it is President Snow who has turned these contestants against one another.  

The aftermath of war has left Joe senseless, limbless, and trapped in his own mind, his body represents the jail cell that he has been condemned to.  In his darkest moments, he turns to something that gives him some form of hope: God.  “So he jumped out of the train right through the window and started running toward Christ” (page 193).  The mention of Christ in this passage is crucial to the transition in character that Joe takes.  Hope materializes for Joe as he cries out to God, to bring him back into the world of the living.  In desperation he begs for a miracle, he turns to prayer as his last resort, and in this moment of complete fear and hope, a breakthrough occurs.  

The only relationship that Joe has had while he is in the hospital is with the nurse; she is the only thing that Joe can count on.  After years of dealing with nurses who have ignored Joe’s tapping movements, on Christmas, he receives a new nurse.  He realizes right away that this nurse is distinct from the others, she is the first to make an effort to communicate with him by writing “Merry Christmas” on his chest.  It is symbolic that on the day of Christmas, Joe would be blessed with this new opportunity to communicate through morse code.   Joe begins to view himself as Christ, that he is being born on this day, brought out of the “womb” and exposed to the outside world.  He also resembles Christ in his motives to become a symbol for all the soldiers who have died and suffered from war.  He sees that his mission is to warn the other “little guys” from falling into the trap that is set up by their leaders to be pulled into the slaughter.  

In conclusion, Joe sees that his participation in World War I took everything from him, and he finds that he could hold the power to prevent more men from following in his footsteps.  Joe has the power to speak for the fallen soldiers,  metaphorically giving a voice to the silent.  Once again, he finds himself sacrificing his life for a cause, but this time it is a cause that he believes in, a cause that will protect lives instead of take them.