Johnny Got His Gun

I found the way the book was written to be interesting. I have never seen an author construct a piece where the reader cannot tell if the main character is conscious or hallucinating. This is important to the storyline because Joe has suffered greatly because of the war. All he has left is a functioning brain and nothing else, so his thoughts are always sporadic and sometimes confusing to the reader. One of the best parts of the book where the reader cannot tell if Joe is hallucinating or not is when he thinks he is being eaten by the rat. Trumbo uses such great imagery that the reader can picture the scenario in their mind and start to believe that this was in fact true, yet it was only a figment of Joe’s imagination. By including the thought process of Joe during the war, he is able to show reality of war and the struggles a soldier must face.