Joe's Aim

Eli Pardue
5/12/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

At the end of the book, Joe realizes that he is the ultimate representation of what happens in war. He realizes that all others who go to war in some way will be able to relate to his experience as a cripple, whether it be mentally of physically. Along these lines, Joe realizes that although he wishes to relate his message of the horrors of war, he will be unable to leave the hospital. Beyond that, he is unable to use an effective means of communication through which to transmit his message. He points the gun at those who unjustly send men to war. Men who, Joe knows, will become mangles like himself, or perhaps, for better or worse, dead. Democracy is supposedly the cause to defend through fighting, but the leaders are not presenting the dead men with democracy. They are presenting them with a death sentence. Joe points the gun at those in charge so that he can give his message, even though he is ultimately unable to

My Thoughts about Joe's Desires

Eli Pardue
5/9/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

I agree with Joe's desire to communicate with others. Communication is the only way that human beings can relate to one another. Without communication, every human being would live in absolute solitude, much like Joe does. Humans would likely not exist if communication was absent because there would be no way to express the need and desire to mate and create offspring. Communication is literally the root of the human condition because without it humans may have never exited at all. In addition, a creature as intelligent as a human, who was previously able to communicate with others would be driven insane through a lack of communication. The person would wallow in their own thoughts and previous experience. Much like water, a mind needs consistent motion and flow in order to stay fresh. Similarly, a stagnant mind will fester and grow rank just like stagnant water. The desire to stay sane is what drives Joe to communicate. I do not, however, agree with Joe's desire to become a showcase for the horrors of war. I think that this would only further his frustration with communication because the message would not be presented exactly how he would want it to be, and his condition would be repeatedly misinterpreted, yet he would have no way of correcting those around him.

Joe's Desires

Eli Pardue
5/7/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Joe's primary concerns are escaping the confines of his mind and serving as an example of the horrors and consequences of war. Joe is trapped inside his mind because he does not have any way of communicating with those around him-the nurses and doctors that care for him. his attempts to communicate-through Morse code-
are misinterpreted by the nurses and doctors. First, the night nurse thinks that he is merely sexually frustrated, and attempts to relieve him of that burden of sexual frustration. Joe does not know what to make of this...he cannot stop her from misinterpreting his desires like this. He is also upset that people would have such a pity for him. They either can't see or can't understand that he still has a consciousness because all they see (and therefor understand) him as is a husk, a shell of what used to be a man, and so they can't understand that his desires are beyond the primal urges of unintelligence. The next attempt to communicate is understood as a seizure, and the doctors try to sedate him. Joe also wants to become a permanent image and example of the horrors of war. The problem comes back to his inability to communicate his desire.

Joe's Injuries

Eli Pardue
5/6/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Joe's injuries are extensive. They are present as a part of Joe as a character because they are the reason he is so segregated from the world around him. Joe is injured by a bomb blast, one that takes with it his limbs and face. He also has a gaping hole in his side, presumably from a bullet or shrapnel. However, his injuries go beyond the physical. His injuries are highlighted by the fact that he cannot speak, see, hear, or smell. The fact that he is missing four of his 5 primaries senses is the reason that Joe is trapped inside his own mind. For that reason, the injuries are very important to Jonny Got His Gun. They also matter because they begin to form the person that Joe (in his new, half live state). Joe is defined by his injuries. They are the cause of his anxiety and his initial fear of dieing. They are the reason Joe has continued revelations and flashbacks characterized by the stream of consciousness format of the book. The injuries are important to the book because they are what the book is essentially founded on.

Dr. Horn's Metaphor

Eli Pardue
4/22/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

It Takes a Family affected me as a person and conflicted with what I believe more than any other piece we have read so far. I deeply regret that Santorum has such a close-minded perspective on child rearing. He puts forth many statistics regarding single-parent households and households where the mother and father are unmarried compared to statistics from “healthy” households with a married mother and father. What Santorum fails to comprehend is that it is not necessarily the fact the parent is single that increases the child’s chance of becoming delinquent, or unsuccessful. It has much more to do with the parents skill in parenting. There is much more neglect and abuse in single parent families perhaps because the parent is not fit to be a parent (this is also perhaps why the marriage failed in the first place). How can I speak from such a perspective? Because I have lived in a single parent household for half of my life, and before that, I lived in not one, but two married households. I have plenty of personal experience with single parent households. I even know the differences of single parent households in two completely different parts of the country, and the differences between an upper/middle class single parent household and a lower class single parent household. Therefore, I very much resent Dr. Wade Horn’s metaphor comparing a single-parent household to a plane that doesn’t always reach its destination. I understand that there is some truth to it. I understand that because my household has at times been dysfunctional. However, I am not upper class. I do not have many of the luxuries that upper class single parents can provide to their children. And yet, my mother has placed me in a private, college preparatory high school and ensured my success. So, given my experience in single parent households, excuse me if I am reluctant to believe that a single-parent household is an inherently dangerous way to rear a child.

Vazquez's Arguement on Homophobia

Eli Pardue
4/24/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Vazquez waits to disclose that Mickey and Brian are straight men because it adds strength to her argument that the men were straight, yet still felt the burn of homophobia. The fact that homophobia can be so intense as to rise above sexual orientation, and instead target those who act or appear stereotypically homosexual. It is horrible that gays alone would be subject to this kind of violence, and we feel that as we read the opening paragraphs. However, it is worse that heterosexual men are also subject to homophobic hate and discrimination based on their appearance and personality. It is worse because now there exists hate that transcends factual knowledge about ones sexual orientation, instead targeting based on assumption. The issue of antigay violence might become more interesting to the masses because of heterosexual victims. It is difficult to say, and more difficult to accept because one would think that the masses would have a basic understanding of human rights, instead of focusing on gay rights or black rights or immigrant rights. It is more than a little bit sick that attention is only grasped when one of the “normals” is subject to hate underserved not only to himself for being straight, but to anyone for any reason.

Imitation of "Girl"

Eli Pardue
4/22/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Wake up at 6:45 every weekday; Go to school on time; don’t forget your lunch; get good grades; do your extracurriculars; excel at sports, because remember, you have to get into a good college if you want to be a doctor! Finish your homework; bring it to me when you are done, because you need to be good at science if you want to be a doctor! Come outside for a bit; work on the garden; prune the shrubs, weed the garden; remember the get the by the root; be sure that shovel is far enough away from your foot; you don’t want to loose a toe. Be home before eleven, or face the consequences!; school comes before friends; work does too. Be sure to do the yard work before you do the dishes or sweep the living room because its important for a boy to do the manly work before the traditional woman’s work because he needs to get a sense of what it is to be a man physically, although I would never tell you that.

Parental guidance differs quite a bit between sexes. Fathers tend to reinforce practical skills and duties, while mothers are more focused on personality and life style. Fathers are ‘manly’ with their sons. In other words, they try to make sure that they will have the qualities of men that they grew up with, and have the qualities of men that they have themselves. Mothers are the same way with daughters, but I do not wish to speak of their relationships, as I have not observed or experienced a mother-daughter relationship.