War in Two Novels

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in the two novels "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo and "Little Big Man" by Thomas Berger, individuals are changed greatly by war. It discusses how although both novels show war as a foolish endeavor which no one really wins, the authors treat war in different ways. It analyzes how Berger includes scenes of battle in his book, while Trumbo concentrates on the aftermath of war in the form of one blinded and crippled individual whose outer life has been taken completely from him, leaving him only an inner life of memory and immediate sensation. It also looks at how Berger presents his images of war in a comic manner, highlighting the foolishness and insanity of war through exaggeration and in his choice of details and how Trumbo's entire book represents the futility of war and the horror for those who are wounded.

From the Paper:

"Jack Crabb changes in various ways throughout the novel, shifting his personality to fit into the different worlds he finds himself in, first a settler, then an Indian, then a cavalry soldier, and always a man seeking to keep ahead of his fate. For Jack, war has different faces, depending on which side he is on at the time. This fact alone shows how war changes him, for he becomes what others want him to be. When with the Indians, he is told, "My son, those are white people that we are going to destroy" (Berger 91). When he is with the cavalry, he hears similar sentiment about how they are going to kill the Indian. For the real effect of war on the human psyche, there is Custer, who seems to be veering into insanity as he continues his campaign. War itself is depicted as insane, and it is not surprising that some of the warriors are as well, especially a committed leader like Custer."

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