Skip over navigation  Johnny Got His Gun  Dalton Trumbo  Themes,
Motifs, and Symbols  Analysis of Major Characters  Chapters i–ii
The Oppression of the Working Class  Johnny Got His Gun is
clearly an antiwar novel. While the root of this sentiment
involves the brutality of war, Joe also protests the
organization of modern warfare that has the interests of the
moneyed classes as its purpose. Joe thinks in terms of an "us"
vs. "them" axis, and it quickly becomes clear what he means by
these vague designations. "Us," the archetypal little guy,
refers to the poorer classes who work with their hands and make
just enough money to be potentially happy within in their local
life. "Them" refers to the upper, moneyed classes whose
interests have dictated the war, yet who do not endanger
themselves but instead send workers to fight against other
workers. The oppression of the working classes by the upper
classes is not a blunt matter of coercion. Instead, the novel
tracks the ways in which power works through subtler