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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Johnny Got His Gun, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Horrors of War
The Value of Life
Elites vs. Common People
Time and Memory
Summary
Analysis
Joe can’t believe it. He’s spent so long preparing for this moment that he never thought about what to do next. He wonders what answer the Doctor and the others on the hospital staff expect him to give, whether it’s some new clothes or a complaint about his bed. What Joe wants is too big to put into words. Most of all he wants his arms and legs back, as well as his senses, but he knows there’s no way to do that. Unfortunately, that’s not something they can give him.
Joe faces an important existential question: after achieving his life’s goal (to communicate with someone on the outside), what does he do next? This passage explores the complexity of human desires and how the pursuit of goals can be even more important than actually achieving them. Joe has already experienced a few similar moments that blend achievement with anticlimax to a lesser extent, such as when he first went into Stumpy Telsa’s house only to find that it was relatively unremarkable on the inside.
Themes
Joe imagines that even if he can think of a good answer to the question, they might not be able to give it to him. Certainly, the government won’t want to spend any more money on someone like him. But Joe decides to tell them what he wants anyway. “Let me out,” he taps multiple times, meaning that he wants to go back to out in the world, maybe even work a job. He imagines being part of a circus freak show.
Joe considers the question “What do you want?” not only from a practical perspective but from a philosophical one. The question forces Joe to consider his whole reason for living, particularly now that he has already accomplished his goal of communicating with the outside world. Ultimately, Joe’s answer shows that he wants to experience an even greater level of connection with the outside world, finding some way to overcome his condition and interact with people outside the hospital in whatever limited capacity he can.
Themes
Joe wants to see farmers in the country. He wants to see the places where people work to make things. He wants to see schools, perhaps serving as a lesson to children. Then he wants to go to colleges and universities so that people can see him and study him. After that, he wants to go to government buildings and force all the politicians to look at him before they vote to send more “little guys” off to go kill and die. Finally, he wants to go to churches and call all the people in them “fools” because he’s the only one who knows the real truth.
Joe knows his dreams might not be realistic, but after having already achieved something that seemed impossible, he allows himself to dream even more. Joe’s dreams perhaps bear some similarity to the real life of deaf and blind political activist Helen Keller. As Joe laments how he will probably never be able to live out his dreams, he returns to the topic of condemning people in power, whom he believes have the resources to help him achieve his dreams but choose to spend the resources elsewhere.
Themes
