Wednesday, May 7, 2008
What Joe Wants and What He Can't Get
Joe wants the things that people take for granted like legs, arms, and the ability to smell, taste, see, talk, and feel. He wants to be able to feel the air. He also wants to communicate to the nurses and doctors and have interaction. He desires to be considered an alive man and he does not want to be forgotten. Joe wishes to get out of the hospital so he can feel people around him that are of his own. In the hospital, he feels like a prisoner because it is like he is locked up and cannot do anything. He feels like is wrongly there since he has not committed a crime or done anything illegal. It is against regulations to let him out because they do not want people to see what war can do to them. They do not want people to be affected by seeing him and not fight for their country. They were afraid that Joe would show the soldiers the future if they went to war, so they kept him a secret. It was to keep people positive about war.
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3 comments:
Nice blog Katie. I agree with you that Joe wants the all of the bodily functions that we have and “take for granite”, and that he wants to get out of the hospital. Joe wants to become more of an “exhibit” for the world. He feels it is his obligation to show the injuries of war and the bad it contains. Joe realizes though why it would be against the law for him to be seen by the outside world. If his body was to be displayed, then the national government would be in a world of hurt. Generals would lose all of their recruits, congress would be crushed, and our military would be reduced to nothing. Joe is angered that he is denied his request. Why shouldn’t he be able to show his own body, property of him, to the people? He regained the ability to communicate with people. Shouldn’t he be allowed to use it?
I think you made some really good points. What Joe really wants is to be put back together, but he knows this isn't possible. He is even willing to use and degrade himself to show the world the horrors of war just to get out of the hospital and into the outside world. He realizes the reason why he isn't allowed to do this, which only frustrates and discourages him more.
Hey Katie,
So I totally agree with the information you have presented in this blog. Joe is not only yearning to be the self he once was [with legs, arms, and senses]. He wants to interact with the people outside of the hospital, however, it is against regulations. I believe the reason why it is against regulations is kind of good, but at the same time, kind of bad. The good reason is of course that you would not want this negative view of the result of your life at war if you`re a future soldier. However, the bad thing is that these future soldiers are not seeing the reality of what could possibly happen to them. I think it is important to be 'real' with what could truly happen to you. Covering up the fact that your condition could come out to be like Joe`s is not cool.
Nice blog.
-Ieysha
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