The Theme Of Loss In Johnny Got His Gun

Loss is a strange thing is it not? One minute there will be something or someone, but the next minute it will be gone forever. Charlie, the father from the film Shenandoah, and Joe, the protagonist in the novel Johnny Got His Gun written by Dalton Trumbo, both experience this strange thing called loss. Charlie is the father of six sons, one of which is married and they are expecting a child, and one daughter. Shenandoah takes place on the Anderson family ranch in Shenandoah, Virginia during the Civil War. The Anderson family wants to stay out of the war, but their plans change when the youngest son, Boy, is wrongly captured by the Union after being mistaken for a Confederate. When the Anderson family goes to rescue Boy, they experience tragic

loss when two of Charlie’s other sons are killed. Similarly, Joe also experiences his loss as an outcome of a war. Joe was a soldier for the US in World War I. Joe got severely injured in the line of duty. He lost his hearing, both arms, both legs, his sight, his nose, and his mouth. Johnny Got His Gun tells Joe’s experience of discovering his injuries, coming to terms with them, and how he could possibly continue any type of life after this loss. Although Joe and Charlie have their own very distinct circumstances, they both experience loss of similar things--people, future experiences, and self worth.
Joe and Charlie are very different characters, but one of the only things that makes them similar is their experience of loss.

They both lose people, future experiences, and self worth. In Johnny Got His Gun Joe loses many people as a result of his injuries. Because his injuries practically cut him off from the rest of the world, he loses everyone in the world. Some of the most important people are Joe’s mother, sisters, and Kareen, Joe’s girlfriend. In the end of the story Joe becomes able to communicate with the world, but the people he is communicating with believe silencing Joe is more convenient for them, so they keep him sedated (Trumbo 238). At this point in the novel, Joe is now completely cut off from any person and is very lonely now. Along with losing people, Joe also lost his future. Because of his injuries he is stuck in his head with no way out. One example of Joe missing out on his future experiences is how he will no longer be able to work. Joe comes to the realization of never being able to work again when he discovers one of his arms are missing. When he discovers his missing arm one of the first things he asks himself is “[h]ow am I going to work now?” (Trumbo 27) This thought of not being able to work again leads Joe to realize that he has lost any opportunity to become successful because in Joe’s eyes the only way to measure success is by how much money a person makes. Now that Joe will no longer be able to work, he will not be able to be successful

either. The last thing that Joe loses in the novel is his self worth. In “The Dead” Joe believes that life is not worth living anymore because he is unable to do anything with his injuries. He becomes very self loathing and aware of the fact that he is better off dead than being stuck in his own mind with nothing to do. He becomes envious of those that had the blessing of getting to die.
Death is a common theme that Charlie experienced in Shenandoah.

In the same way to Joe, Charlie faces the loss of people, future experiences, and his self worth. The film follows Charlie and his family's journey as they travel to find his youngest son Boy who had been captured by Union soldiers after being mistaken for a confederate. Charlie experienced the loss of loved ones throughout the movie. The first loss was Charlie’s wife, Martha. Martha died when she was giving birth to their youngest son, Boy. Next, Charlie lost Boy when he was captured. Although Boy eventually found his way back home, Charlie still experienced all of the feelings that came with the thought that Boy may never come home. Next, Charlie lost his eldest son, Jacob, when he was shot by a confederate soldier on their way back from their search for Boy. And lastly, Charlie lost his second eldest son James and his wife Ann. James and Ann decided to stay home because they just had a child and they were going to watch the house, but as they were robbers came and killed them both. This was a very tough time for Charlie because he had to endure the pain of four out of the five losses at the same time. This would have been a very hard weight on Charlie’s chest. This is similar to Joe in the fact that both experienced a flow of losses at once without any warning. Both situations would be very overwhelming. With all of these losses comes with a loss of future experiences with any of them. Charlie will never get

to see his eldest son get married or have kids. He lost all of the experiences of raising his family with his wife Martha. Charlie missed out on so many events because many of his loved ones have died. Also, with all of these deaths comes guilt. Charlie carries much guilt on his shoulder from many of his family members dying. After all, Charlie is the man of the house. He is supposed to be the one that cares for the family and protects all of them, but four of them die and one gets captured. It is hard for one to feel good about being the guardian and leader of the family when they feel like all they have done is let them die.
In conclusion, Joe and Charlie have similar experiences of losing people, future experiences, and their self worth, despite having very distinct circumstances. Loss is something that everybody will experience in their life. It will probably even be at least one of the types that Joe and Charlie both experienced, but how each person deals with their loss is going to be different. So, people should not be judging the way that anyone handles this strange thing called loss.