Johnny Got His Gun

“It was all over and finished and why couldn’t the goddam phone ever stop ringing?”

After initially hearing a phone call informing him of his father’s death, Joe returns home, sees his father’s body being taken away, and comforts his mother. However, the continued ringing of the phone indicates that these events are not real but are rather a dream or memory. The phone’s continued ringing foreshadows that something terrible is happening to him—this is because the unanswerable phone symbolizes Joe’s total isolation from other people and the figurative “death” he has experienced through his injuries.

“[Y]ou got a thick slice of sweet bermuda onion and put it between two slabs of bread and butter and nobody anywhere in the world had anything more delicious to eat.”

In this passage, Joe recollects the food he used to eat at home as a child. On one level his recollection is a reminder of his domestic, peaceful life before the war. On another level, the recollection of delicious good food highlights Joe’s inability to ever eat such food again or be back with the people who made it.

“He’s down in bed and can’t say anything and it’s his tough luck and we’re tired and this is a stinking war so anyhow so let’s cut the damn thing off and be done with it.”

Joe here imagines the discussion between the surgeons that leads to his arm being amputated. The passage reflects Joe’s utter helplessness, as he’s “down in bed and can’t say anything” and therefore left at the mercy of the medical establishment. The response of the surgeons emphasizes how de-sensitized they have become, as they refer to Joe’s arm as a “damn thing” and regard the amputation as something merely bothersome to perform instead of traumatic for their patient.