Final Blog: pointing the gun...

By the end of the novel Joe is left in the hospital. He is told he cannot leave and be a traveling exhibit like he wanted to. He has nothing left. He will remain in the hospital until his death. Joe comes to the understanding that normal people like himself have to go and fight and be willing to die for their country. He believes that you can't say I would die for my country because you don't know what death is like, and since he is the closest to it he has a right to say that. Joe feels that the leaders who start the war sit back and sends other poeple to fight. The leaders aren't the ones who are fighting and dying, they sit back and watch. Joe does believe in fighting for the country anymore, and raising up arms against someone. But he feels that to stop the fighting we must fight the leaders causing wars and sending us to them. By the end of the book Joe is pointing his gun to ending violence by fighting those who begin and lead wars.

Joe's desires

Joe's desire to put himself on exhibit is understandable for his predicament. Joe has no limbs and he cannot speak, hear, or see. Joe wants to function in a normal life. He knows that he cannot do anything to support himself, besides just being watched. If he was an exhibit then he would have a reason to be alive and have human contact than just the regular nurse visit. Even though Joe would be seen as a freak and kind of like an animal at the zoo, he desires to have some life other than sit in bed.

Putting myself in his situation is a difficult thing to do. I can't possibly imagine not being able to see, talk, or hear, so how can I decide what I would want in his situation? Honestly I would probably not want to live anymore. This is mostly because I believe that there is more after death in my religion. If I couldn't function in life, then I believe I could be happy in Heaven.

Joe's emotions

Joe is finally getting to the point of communicating with a nurse. He finally gets the nurse to understand his morse code and then a morse code reader comes in to decipher what Joe is trying to say. Joe desperately wants out of the hospital, so he wants to become a traveling freak show. He can't do anything else but show people what has happened to him. Even though his situation is very demeaning and showing his 'freakish' quality is, he wants to be out of the hospital. The army will no allow this because they do not want the outside world to see what can happen from war and they are scared of the fear Joe's condition would cause. Therefore Joe will remain stuck in the hospital.

Joe's injuries

Joe was on the front lines in WWI. He lost all of his limbs and damaged his face to the point where he can't hear or speak. Joe's injuries leave him to live a life with no 'outside' contact. He is alone with his memories. Joe's injuries greatly effect the story. He must learn how to be alone, and then figure if he is alive of not. Even though Joe is in a hospital, he is completely alone. He lives in a world alone with no companionship. One of are essential needs as humans is to be able to have communication with people. The level of Joe's injuries is very important to the development of the novel.