Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Johnny Got His Gun 5
Joe wants to master time so that he can get a sense of this new world that he is living in. He tries to remember different stories such as A Christmas Carol but is unable to because he never memorized it very well. Joe is frustrated because he is unable to recite simple things such as his times tables. Therefore, he decides to teach himself to tell time. Joe wants to do this because time is a way that he can be connected with everyone. Time is universal. Everyone knows how to tell time regardless of their ethnicity or language. Joe originally tries to count the seconds, minutes, and hours between the visits of the nurses, but he soon loses tracks of the seconds. He then decides to focus on trying to time his bed changes and bowel movements. He realizes that the nurse probably bathes him in the morning and visits him every two hours after that. Eventually, Joe is able to tell time, and he is even able to sense the environment around him. He is able to tell the sunrise apart from the sunset based solely on the temperature and warmth on his neck. He is also able to tell the nurses apart based on the vibrations that they make.
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3 comments:
Perhaps another reason why Joe wants to keep track of time is that it gives him his old life back in a way. If he could tell time, he could count the days until, for example, Kareen's birthday, and then celebrate it himself.
I somewhat doubt Joe's ability to be able to accurately measure the sun's rays on his neck, but at least it gives him something to look forward to. Even if the sunrise actually proves to be the sunset, at least he would have been able to measure a day.
Abbey, I forgot about Joe trying to remember the stories such as A Christmas Carol, so I think that is key that you brought it up. It's important to point out how he didn't achieve what he wanted to at first and had to try and find another way to tell time. This is the only thing that Joe has in order to keep living, so when he does figure out what is going on with the time it helps him have something to look forward to. Good job. :)
Way to go Abbey!! I could never imagine losing all my senses. it's awful to say, but i can't imagine wanting to live through that. But I admire people that have lost senses and are able to strengthen their remaining ones and try to live a normal life. i am so impresses that Joe is keeping time by feeling the sun rays. that's insane. great blog :)
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