Johnny Got His Gun

One of the most interesting passages in Johnny Got His Gun to me was probably the passage about Joe's realization that he can no longer tell the difference between sleep and wake. This particularly struck me because I had never thought about not being able to tell the difference between two things that to me, seemed so concrete. Joe seems particularly wise when he realizes that he has to force himself to think very hard about things until he puts himself to sleep.

I can't think if a clever title.

Johnny Got His Gun lacks one element that is so often used when talking about war, god. March Of The Flag proposes the idea that America goes to war to expand, America expands because god wants us to. The lack of god in Johnny Got His Gun isn't something that I personally would have thought about when considering war. Although Joe seems to have a great deal of revelations about his life, no mention of a religion ever comes into play.

America got their gun......?

Johnny Got His Gun shows fairly clearly the idea of war on a much more personal level. The story of Joe slowly learning about his new and bizarre disabilities is not only heartbreaking, but it reveals how individuals are effected by something that is meant to better everyone as a whole. The easy comparison between America The Beautiful and Johnny Got His Gun is the fact that Johnny never seems to fully understand why he went to war, or why anyone else did. Which is exactly what D’Souza claims is wrong with the American view on war.