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Joe Bonham is the protagonist of the novel Johnnygun. He is a young man who has been drafted into the military and sent to fight in the Vietnam War. Bonham is severely wounded in battle and loses all of his limbs. He is confined to a hospital bed for the rest of his life. Despite his injuries, Bonham remains positive and tries to make the best of his situation.
1. “If I’m not gonna be anything more than what I am, I don’t see why I should have to be. I ain’t got no soul, so I can’t complain about not going to heaven. I don’t know what the hell I am, see. I guess I’m just a damn fool.”
2. “I want to talk to people but I can’t. I want to tell them what happened to me but I can’t. I can’t tell anybody anything because I’m dead. I’m not even sure I exist.”
3. “I don’t know what a soul is. I don’t know if I’ve got one or not. I hope I have. I hope I go to heaven when I die. But I don’t know anything. I don’t know how I got here in the first place.”
4. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t think. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t even cry anymore. I just want to die.”
5.”I wish I could tell you all how much I love you. I wish I could tell you that I’m not afraid to die. But I can’t. I can’t even tell you my own name. I am Joe Bonham. I am twenty years old. I’m an American. I was a soldier. I was wounded in the war. And now I am nothing. I am nothing at all.”