Reading Response #3

The protagonist Joby changes greatly throughout the story, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury.  At the beginning of the story, Joby has fears about the battle, “Me, thought the boy, I only got a drum, two sticks to beat it and no shield.”  Obviously, during the American Civil War, literal shields were not used in battle.  Instead the use of the word shield serves as a metaphor for anything that would protect the boy.  For instance he had no weapon to protect himself with, he had no friend that would watch his back, and so on.  Also this line shows how insignificant Joby thinks his role is in the battle.  He thinks that he’ll just be another boy who died in the battle.

Later on in the story, when the general of the army that Joby fights for finds Joby crying, the general tell Joby how important his role in the battle actually is.  The general describes to Joby that if he beats the drum slowly in the battle, the soldiers would march slowly and sleepily and not fight at the best of their abilities.  However, if he beat the drum fast and lively, the soldiers would snap into life and put up a live and electrified fight.  Joby realized that his role as the drummer boy wasn’t insignificant at all.  He could actually make a big difference in the outcome of the battle.  This produces a theme of accepting your role and what your job is in the community.

This theme of accepting what your role is in the community goes hand in hand with another theme of trying your hardest and giving it your all, as cliché as that sounds.  If you have a very small part in a play, or a very small part on a sports team you should always go out and try your hardest because it can only make the play or the game or whatever activity you’re participating in better.  Also it reflects that you’re trying and that you actually care about what you’re participating in which will be taken into account by everyone and might warrant a promotion or bigger role for you in the future.  All in all, trying your hardest will only make things better for you and your group as a whole.