Johnny Got His Gun, Essay Example

I was studying in high school when I read “Johnny Got His Gun” first time. When the war of Vietnam was on its peak, and the song of Phil Ochs titled as “I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore” was completely the persuasive factor that I required to become a member of the peace movement. But merely the images of napalmed children revealed me any suspicion about the real face of Vietnam War, until Dalton Depression-era of Trumbo work overturn dream world of my teenage. (Ingham, 2009)

At that time Trumbo wanted to provide an argument in against of the Vietnam War that would always remain into the memories of all people and never leave. And he remained successful with me and with all those people to whom I’ve met and who studied this novel. Similar to number of other affecting and rich modern works, it was generally influenced by World War I, which was the war that started revolutions and perpetually corroded the fantasies of cast-iron in the age of gilded. (Ingham, 2009)

But Johnny is differentiated from A Farewell to Arms and All Quiet on the Western Front in relation to those factors which are addition to historical edge emerged by the realities of collapses that were of economic nature following the boom in postwar era. The war of Trumbo was not a notion, or merely a terrible experience, but indivisible consequences of the system that was if capitalist nature. And even though in the same time when “capitalism named as unbridled” is recognized as element of nature like sentiment and oxygen like “war is not good” is considered as a cliché and chestnut in few environments, the work even currently burns with the help of veil in relation to the denial of everyday. (Ingham, 2009)

Johnny is taken as the very first-person who is the doughboy narrative and whose arms, face and legs were blown off from the front. The title is considered from number of people as a response to the nationalistic pop abstains of the war: “Johnny gets your gun, get your gun, get your gun…..” (Trumbo, 2007). The Johnny under consideration was the creation of an “innocence age,” a generation emerged to live in the lack of knowledge about the slaughter that creeps around in the past of every protected and small town and village. Johnny was the idealistic and healthy young man who was always prepared to taste the globe as simply a full-grown and matured American young boy could. In relation to this novel, the reader is considered as evidence to his realization of unfolding nature in relation to the condition as basket case as fatalities of such damages were labeled. The novel presented that, as in life, the war slashed Johnny to leave and shreds him his questions that were unanswerable, memories, and irrevocable loneliness.

The point of Trumbo could not be apparent: War de-humanizes. Particularly, it deprived you from being humanize. The point is appeared continuously, but forever in a completely different way; the reader of novel is confronted, even sometimes shouted at, but was never lectured. The black humor of narrative is illustrated by the memory of doughboy called “Lazarus,” the dead body of a soldier who was German behind lines of Britain, who will not get buried regardless of courageous and brave struggles by the brass (Trumbo, 2007). Lazarus is considered United States sense of war, he is thought and believed to be over there and spoiling the lives of some other people. However, here Johnny is, his decompose satisfying our nostrils, changing us to be crazy as we always seeks to imagine to disregard him. Immediately, the comedy transferred into calamity, not to make the reader experience through, but to establish recognition and identification of the neurosis concerned to the co-existence of war.

“Johnny Got His Gun” is not an enthusiastically and entirely considered as a pacifist novel. Social theory indicates that, similar to numbers of works that were of social protest type in the 1930s, it finishes with an announcement to militaries in against of the war masters, e.g., “If you explain us to create the safe world for democracy we will seriously take you and by Christ and by god we will make it possible” (Trumbo, 2007) The novel symbolized and exemplified the blunt, disobedient anti-militarist spirit of Socialist Party writer, Eugene Debs, Gen and Mary Marcy. The most of the decorated WWI general named as Smedley Butler, later reverted his mind concerning to the war. After sometime, the appearance and publication of the novel “Johnny Got His Gun”, this strength waned as assist for the effort of new war that was rapped up with the mainstream of the Left. In the year 1947, Trumbo would appear as one of the “Hollywood 10” who challenged the Committee House on Activities of Un-American nature and were blacklisted and jailed and for their stand.

After a new generation, with the same soul and spirit, the novel recurred unpredictably. They remain each other living. Trumbo, who had died in the year 1976, would have esteemed how swiftly the hoopla intended for the Gulf War dispersed. His manuscript’s part was acceptable and known. Observe for pride because he could no longer act together in the midst of other humans. The writer’s idea and opinion was this of the most terrible case scenario which could have took place to a soldier who was wounded. The portrayal of his wounds and injuries provided the reader an image of what it would be similar to have survived without legs, arms, or a face. This was a horrible thinking that facilitated personalize the tale by making the person who reads feel awful for the central character. At the moment many perceived warfare in a war to be gracious but for the largest part of the soldiers this was anything but gracious.

A lot of times TV shows, movies, as well as books had allured war, but that was an open lie. This manuscript showed the unsympathetic reality of war that for the most part people didn’t know subsisted at the time. War is somewhat that no man should always anticipate for, however young gentlemen were told that this was magnificent to fight for your nation (Ingham, 2009). The truth was that those people put their valued lives on the line day after day to fight for their nation. This may have been gallant but certainly not fascinating to kill a new human. In a number of cases, soldiers who participated in wars had ruthless mental troubles when they would come back home from war as a consequence of the viciousness they saw.

While Joe finally knew and got the sense of right and wrong of his surroundings, he comprehended what had come about to him. Attributable to his injuries Joe was cut off from the rest of the humankind. It made the so that he didn’t yet know if he was wakeful or resting. Joe kept having flashbacks to the warfare and to his life earlier to the battle. Then when he comprehended that his life was above he wanted to finish it but he had no control to. He advised others throughout Morse code but they shorn of him death. The days and nights that Joe Bonham led later than his injuries was in no way fascinating but in its place the worst promising way to survive.

As I at first started reading this volume I thought that war was a compulsory part of our world to keep other nations in order, however now I recognize that war supplies no intention at all. This is just a misuse of resources as well as life that could be better utilized. I still accept as true that we should have an army to care for us however I now consider that we should apply more self-discipline when sending in armed force. In the majority cases this is not compulsory to shed blood in further countries. I accept as true that our army should merely be used in intense cases when there is no other resolution. In the majority cases this would be promising to resolve a crisis without fighting nevertheless it is easier to just battle over it. That sadly happens far else over and over again in our society? Plus now with the entire of the nuclear weapons which have been generated a further huge war could finish the world (Ingham, 2009). Perceptibly it is not a suitable solution that is why we should find other approaches to solve our clashes. The book revolutionized my attitude towards war as well as the men who struggle in them.

As supported from the past tense verb in the heading of this novel, Johnny Got His Gun takes like its focus the consequences of war for a warrior, slightly than the positive, devoted prewar time frame upon that other novels over and above the inventive song “Johnny Get Your Gun” spotlight. Even though the novel remains obvious about the reality that Johnny received his injuries as of an exploding shell, Johnny does not eternally think back to struggle warfare. The novel takes like its adversary not combat warfare save for rather the frame of mind of warfare along with organization of modern warfare through the prosperous classes. Joe’s memories linked to the war, for instance the Lazarus story, or the story of the man with a flap over his stomach; do not directly deal with warfare. As an alternative, these ranges of memories create a sense of the profound perish, injury, and hurt that effect from war. Joe memorizes the tales with an ironic tone that gives a wisdom of the silliness of each of the situations for example the rumor about the man who mislaid his face only to come back home and pass away at his wife’s hands. Inside this sense, the exploit of the war into the text remains accurate to it’s applied in the name of the novel: the war exists as a precondition for senseless and grotesque injury and pain.

Works Cited

Trumbo, Dalton. Johnny Got His Gun. New York: Citadel, 2007.

Ingham, Chris. Metallica: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs: Stories Behind the Songs. New York: Carlton Books, 2009.