Joe Bonham Timeline and Summary

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• Joe wakes up to the phone ringing. He thinks that he must be badly hurt, and then he realizes that he is deaf.
• Joe goes in and out of consciousness. He remembers various scenes from his life.
• Joe figures out that both of his arms and both of legs have been amputated—and that most of his face has been blown off.
• Eventually, Joe figures out a way of measuring time by counting the number of nurse's visits that happen between the times when his sheets are changed. He uses this to estimate when the sun will rise.
• Two years pass with not much happening, except that Joe learns how to tell the nurses apart.
• One day, the nurse changes Joe's bedclothes two days in a row, and then Joe feels four or five people come into his room. They pin a medal to his shirt and kiss his temples. Joe gets angry and tries to dislodge his mask to make them face him. The people leave.
• Joe figures out that he might be able to communicate with people if he taps out Morse code with his head. He starts tapping SOS constantly, much to the chagrin of the nurse and doctor, who eventually start giving him morphine to quiet him down.
• One day, Joe gets a new nurse who traces out "MERRY CHRISTMAS" on his chest. He tries to communicate with her through the tapping, and she is more patient in trying to figure out what he wants. She eventually gets it and brings in the doctor.
• The doctor taps out to Joe: "WHAT DO YOU WANT." Joe answers that he wants to be let out so that he can show people what war looks like.
• The doctor leaves and returns with the message: "WHAT YOU ASK IS AGAINST REGULATIONS WHO ARE YOU." Crestfallen, Joe tries again to ask to be let out, but he is dosed with morphine instead.
• As he slips into unconsciousness, Joe sees himself as a Christ figure who stands for the future of a war-torn world.