revised

In the book The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury,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. the theme is that even a small and what can seem insignificant part in a large thing can actually be important. 

At first Joby 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.” This shows that Joby feels left out and unimportant to the army. 

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.

          This story shows me that Joby realizes that even a small part can actually really matter. Kind of like a puzzle, in the sense that if you don't  have one piece, no matter how small the puzzle would never be complete. Maybe these days other people should realize the same thing, and not get discouraged just because they aren't the biggest part in something.