Joe and Thoreau

In “Johnny Got his Gun,” Joe rails against war and government, condemning America for treating its soldiers and citizens carelessly. He is angry because he was told, as a soldier, that he was fighting for a cause, but as he rots slowly, he has lost sight of this cause, revealing its unimportance. In “Resistance to Civil Government,” Thoreau argues that the United States government views its men as “moveable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power,” that “the mass of the men… have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs, as machines, with their bodies (838).” Thoreau states that it is our duty to protest and question our government. He writes, “All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough good to counterbalance the evil (839).” Ultimately, “Resistance” revolves around the motto, “That government is best which governs least (836).” Thoreau prescribes resistance, not necessarily revolution. Joe, however, wants a major overhaul of the government. He wants people to be furious about war. He alerts his readers that nothing is worth dying for- not country, not liberty. “And all the guys who say life before dishonor is pure bull the important thing is life before death they should be left alone too. Because the guys who say life isn’t worth living without some principle so important you’re willing to die for it they are all nuts… All the guys who died all the five million or seven million or ten million who went out and died to make the world safe for democracy to make the world safe for words without meaning how did they feel about it just before they died... They died with only one thought in their minds and that was I want to live I want to live I want to live (151-153).” Joe is certainly more radical than Thoreau, but both men choose to protest their government, either with hate clouding their vision or with resolve for a better union softening their quill.