Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Johnny Got His Gun is completely internal, meaning that the only thing we read is Joe's thoughts. How might the novel's style of the writing reflect the way a person thinks?
- What was it about World War I that made it different from previous wars?
- It's easy to say that there are things worth fighting and dying for, but often these things are said by those who not doing the fighting. As someone who is presumably not doing any fighting, what do you think? How do you think Joe might respond to you?
- Johnny Got His Gun puts a premium on life and living as the most important things there are. The dead can no longer experience these things, and they can't express their opinions on the things they've fought for. Joe sees himself as the spokesperson for the dead. Do you agree with what he thinks they would say?
- During the McCarthy era, Dalton Trumbo faced accusations that he was a member of the Communist Party in the United States, and the ending of Johnny Got His Gun has very strong undertones about who controls the means of production. Do you think Trumbo's political stance affects how we read the book?
- How do Joe's memories relate to what is going on with him in the present? Why does he remember specific things at specific times?
- What do Joe's memories about his life have to do with a war novel? What do they show?
- Who are "the little guys" that Joe keeps referring to?
- Why do you think the doctor at the end of the novel treats Joe the way he does?
- Do we relate to Joe? Why or why not? In what ways?