April 30

Joe, in Johnny Got his Gun, talks a lot about not understanding the effects of war when asked to join it. Since he is now without limbs and a face, he is reconsidering his decision to fight for liberty just because he was asked to fight. This point really tied into Henry David Thoreau’s Resistance to Civil Government. At one point, Thoreau says that the government puts men in the army “on a level with wood and earth and stones” (p. 838). This shows how the men were only a number and not truly that important to the government. This is why when asked to join the military; many people were told that it would help to get liberty because the army only wanted more people to fight. The people in charge didn’t care what the soldiers thought that they were fighting for because their only concern was whether or not they had enough people to fight.