joe's thoughts

Joe’s ability to communicate with others around him has actually frustrated him more than it has helped him. His request to be put in the outside world has been crushed and the doctors are against such thing. Joe realizes that these people are afraid. They are afraid of letting people see the future. The future is war, and the people tending to Joe know that war will break out again. When it does the nation will need soldiers, and Joe being seen by the people of the world will result in no one enlisting in the military. Without soldiers our country can not defend itself. At the end Joe is “pointing” the gun in his sedated sleep, because he is getting back at the masters of war. When the common man has a gun put in his hand, he will point at the leaders and he will live.

My wants like Joe's

What Joe wants is not unreasonable. However, it is a situation that I understand why it is against regulations. I would want some of the same things that Joe wants. I would want to have contact with others that I know and love, but I wouldn’t want to be put “on display” as an exhibit. I think that Joe wanting to be a “spokesmen” of sorts for the affects of war is going too far. It is almost like treason against your nation. I definitely would want communication with people around me and to be able to get out of the hospital and outside. Human interaction is the best cure for any illness or injury. It is what we as humans strive for. However, I think if I were in the condition that Joe is in, I would probably rather to have died. His life is nothing that I would want to live.

Joe's wants that he can't have.

Joe has gained a way to communicate with the outside world. The hospital uses Morse code to talk with Joe by tapping on his head. He can encode messages from the taps. The main that Joe wants is to be put back together, but he knows that is impossible. However, he would like to be involved with the outside world. Joe wants to be taken outside of the hospital and a “live” exhibit for people to observe. He could be an educational tool to show the affects of war and what could happen to a soldier. His body would be a reminder to officials that are putting the country in war of what is happening to the men in the battles. The request of Joe is against regulations because the government would be broken down due to him. Generals couldn’t recruit soldiers, and the horrors of war would be released to the entire world. The only thing that Joe can due is live in his hospital bed, lonely and not able to make a difference.

Joe's injuries

The novel, Johnny Got His Gun, is does not even deal with a man named Johnny. In fact the man in the book and narrator is named Joe. Joe was a soldier in the front lines during World War I. While he was under attack, an explosive shell blew up near him and he lost all of his limbs and sustained major damage to his face. This restricts him to move, hear, talk, and see. Joe has been dealt a terrible hand, but he continues to live. The issues that Joe faces do not hinder his ability to recall the memories of his life. Nightmares do occur rarely, but Joe sticks to stories of human interaction. I think that the injuries that Jack has experienced do affect the novel, but they do not affect the way in which he tells the different stories.

Musical E.C.

Once Upon a Mattress was a very nice show. Everyone in the cast did a great job. The basic outline of the tail involves a quest to find the most suitable princess for Prince Dauntless. His overruling mother, the Queen, has other plans for her son’s life, and his father, the King, is a mute due to a curse by a witch. He can talk when the mouse devours the hawk. All of the town’s people are very eager to get the Prince a bride, because then the lover’s in the town will be allowed to marry as well. It took 13 girls to find the bride. Sir Harry was given permission to go and find this 13th girl. He found Princess Winifred in the swamps and marshes far away. Sir Harry is in the greatest hurry to find the Prince’s bride because his girlfriend, Lady Larkin, is pregnant.

The Queen dislikes Princess Winifred right away, because she swam the mote to get to the castle. However, the Prince falls in love with her. The Princess proves to be cable of achieving all the tests, so the Queen decides to test her on sensitivity. The test will be a pea placed under twenty mattresses on which the princess will sleep on. If she can feel the lump on the pea than she is a true princess.

Lady Larkin and Sir Harry have a fall out, but they resolve it in the end. The Princess passes the test and is suitable for the Prince. The Queen still doesn’t think so, but the Prince stands up to her. This sets the King free of his curse, because the mouse, Prince Dauntless, “devoured the hawk, the Queen. The Queen is then silenced and the people of the village life happily ever after with the Prince and Princess.

The plot of this play was very good. My favorite part was R.J. getting chicken slapped. Hilarious. You can learn that you must stand up for what you believe from this musical. Again, congratulations to the cast.