How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He got to thinking of all the prisoners he had ever read about or heard about all the little guys from the beginning of the doing of things who had been caught and imprisoned and who had died without ever becoming free again. (15.4)
Wait, why is Joe using words like "caught" and "imprisoned" to describe being in the army? Why does he equate the army with prison? Is it because both, in his mind, strip people of their freedom and their humanity? What does he really have a problem with? See the "Christ" section under "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory" for another spin on this quote.
Quote #8
He too had been taken away from his home. He too had been put into the service of another without his consent. He too had been sent to a foreign country far from his native parts. He too had been forced to fight against other slaves of his own kind in a strange place. (15.6)
Looks like Joe is equating war (specifically conscription, or the draft) with a kind of enslavement. That's a pretty controversial thing to say, though keep in mind that at the time that Johnny Got His Gun was written, war and conscription were inseparable. One question we might ask would be whether Joe would feel the same way about war if there were no draft.
Quote #9
They were forcing him to be silent. They didn't want to hear him. They weren't interested in anything but getting him off their minds. (15.10)
Now why would someone want to get Joe off his or her mind? We can't imagine. Also, you might say that the loss of Joe's ability to make others acknowledge him—to make himself heard—is in some ways worse than his actual physical condition. Joe seems to think that people who wage and support war have the responsibility to see and understand war's consequences, but basically no one seems willing to take on this responsibility.