How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The airplane said Mr. Hargraves was ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity and mutual understanding. Everyone would be friends said Mr. Hargraves when the airplane knitted the world together so that the people of the world understood each other. (2.11)
C'mon, planes can't be that evil, can they? The lesson here is to never underestimate the way a thing can be used; it's just a tool, and tools are neutral until use you them for good or evil purposes. Also, war can totally change the way we think about technology. Nazi death camps were so effective, for instance, because they used new technology to kill people more efficiently.
Quote #2
He lay there and thought oh Joe Joe this is no place for you. This was no war for you. This thing wasn't any of your business […] Because it wasn't your fight Joe. You never really knew what the fight was all about. (2.22)
Too bad someone didn't tell Joe any of this earlier. Joe, like just about everyone else, got caught up in the idea of war (war was glorified way more in 1914 than it is today) instead of weighing the necessity of it. World War I in particular is a war that is difficult to justify. What was it all about, again? Anyone?
Quote #3
This is war and war is hell and what the hell and so to hell with it. (3.11)
Nice wordplay, Joe. Behind it is the idea that we often tend to cope with the overwhelming horrors of war by brushing the whole thing off as a nasty business, in the process losing track of the specific horrors real individuals face—and in many cases have to continue facing for the rest of their lives. It's a whole lot easier to rattle off impersonal statistics than it is to consider the suffering of every individual, right? Getting us to remember that those wartime statistics are individuals is one of the main goals of Johnny Got His Gun.