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Johnny Got His Gun Literary Devices

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The passage selected from Johnny Got His Gun distinguishes itself from the rest of the novel through its uplifting tone. Joe creates his own personal victory and establishes a new sense of optimism towards the quality of his life. Trumbo portrays Joe’s newfound joy and blissful relief through the application of tactile imagery, polysyndeton, and oxymoronic phrasing. Tactile imagery is established from the first lines of the passage. Joe anticipates the sunlight on his skin like “a first kiss” or “running a hundred yard dash.” Despite his loss of four out of five senses, he retains the sensation of touch, and uses it to his advantage. The skin on his neck is “seared burned scorched” by the rays of sunlight, and the experience falls hand in hand with Joe’s sudden optimism and energy. …show more content…

The moment that Joe realizes that it is dawn, the sentences begin to unfold beautiful images and paint the scene, with the conjunction “and” creating an infinite aura. The sentences containing the most examples of polysyndeton would normally be labeled “run-on sentences.” The phrases that do not utilize polysyndeton are choppy and brief and stand alone to make dramatic, joyful revelations. The reader is able to understand Joe and the reason behind his energized stream of consciousness through several instances of oxymoronic description. The little town that Joe creates in his head is portrayed as “squat and ugly”, and yet still he still believes it to be “beautiful”. The babies in his “beautiful homely” dream are “awfully healthy”, and they correspond with the dawn in that they both symbolize new beginnings. The quaint little town alludes to God watching over his kingdom with admiration. Joe imagines his own utopia, because he succeeded in his goal, he now has access to it. The oxymorons establish Joe’s dewy, fresh appreciation for mundane, typical

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