Reading Response on Drummer Boy of Shiloh

Reading Response on the Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury

In the book The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury, the theme is that even a small and what can seem unsignefigent part in a large thing can actually be important. The story centers around Joby, a young boy who has just joined the army. He is younger than everyone else and only has a drum but no gun.  All of the other soldiers have guns and Joby feels left out. He meets a general who convinces him that he isn’t useless, and that he is quite important. The general says that Joby sets the pace of the army, which is essential for the soldiers to have during battle.

At the beginning of the story we don’t know much about Joby, but we do know that he has been in the army for a measly 3 weeks. We have no idea about where he comes from and don’t know if he ran away from home to join the army. Its not even clear on whether or not it’s the Civil War. 

He feels like he is unimportant and useless in the army.  IN the beginning of the story Joby is on the ground and has his drum just lying there like he doesn’t care. Then Joby notices that everyone else has a gun and he doesn’t have one. “ I only got a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield.”

Then the general of the entire army comes over and talks to him about that. The general calms him down and shows Joby how he is important to the army.  The general says to Joby that Joby sets the pace for the soldiers during battle. That’s important because if he sets a rhythm too slow then the soldiers will slow their own pace. “ ‘ You boy,’ said the general quietly. ‘ You are the heart of the army. Think about that.’”

             After the general has a talk with Joby, Joby thinks it over and then starts feeling better about the army. Later that night when Joby is going to sleep, he looks at his drum. Then Joby lies down and tucks his drum under is arm and goes to sleep with it there. That’s different from the beginning when he left it on the grass.  Now that the general has showed Joby it almost seems like Joby is treasuring it. That shows how now he has changed because now he treasures his drum and before he didn’t.

            In conclusion, the story tells us that even a small part in something really big, can actually be important. Joby learns that even if he is a small part in the army he still is important. Joby is a small piece in a big puzzle, but without him, the puzzle would never be complete.