Drummer Boy of Shiloh

Molly Ellrodt  809


Reading Response#3- "Drummer Boy of Shiloh"

Quote: "You want to cry some more, go on ahead. I did the same last night" -General

       The story "Drummer Boy of Shiloh", by Ray Bradbury, is about a fourteen year old boy named
Joby who serves as a drummer boy in the Civil War. He starts out the same as all the other drummer boys.  All of them dress in identical uniforms, play the same standard issue drums and all march in unison.  It's as if they are interchangeable.  But as the story evolves, so does Joby. He is given a task by his General that not only pushes him to new heights, but also reveals to the reader, and perhaps to Joby himself, that there is more to him than meets the eye.  Surprisingly, Joby's self discovery occurs, in part, as a result of the General revealing another side of himself to Joby.

       At one point in the middle of the story, the General finds Joby laying on the ground crying because he is frightened.  Fear has taken over Joby on many different levels.  He doesn't fell safe anymore and he doesn't recognize the world the war has created. He doesn't have much to defend himself with. The general walks to him and stands above him and says, "You want to cry some more, go ahead. I did the same last night." This is startling news to both the reader and Joby. I'll bet when you picture a general of war, you picture a strong and tough guy who leads his army through battles week after week without showing any signs of weakness. You don't picture someone who cries when he's afraid or sad. What you picture is who the general while he's in war. Is that really who he is? I don't think so. Well at least it is not all of who he really is. I think that inside the General is a terrified guy who is also nervous that he won't be alive the next day and that he won't be able to see his family if he ever gets to return home. Who wouldn't feel despair when you realize you might never see your loved ones again. The General may be able to convey a certain fearlessness and determination in order to lead his men, but that doesn't change the real person he is inside.

       It's ironic that when the General reveals his weaker side to Joby, the General gives Joby the chance to reveal a stronger and more powerful side of himself. The General asks Joby to be the drummer boy for the army going into what we know now as the Battle at Shiloh. In the beginning of the story Joby feels that he has no importance. Him and the other Drummers aren't even given protection for battles that they drum in. He feels that no one cares about him. But when he is given this huge responsibility, he feels he finally has a purpose in the war. To be doing something this important he is able to see another side of himself. The more capable and confident side. Though he still might be scared inside he finds this other side of himself that adds on to who he is.
     
       I can relate to Joby's journey of self-discovery.  There have been times in my life when I have been called on to do something out of my comfort zone, something that pushes me, and although I'm still the scared, uneasy person on the inside, I realize that I can and will do something that I never thought I could do.  I'm that person too.  When the general reveals his emotions to Joby, it really shows that there's more than one side to a person.  The General's confession was a powerful statement and it  made me think more deeply about war and how it can change a person's personality. Or maybe it just reveals a side of them that they never knew they had.