Overdue Ep 732 – Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo

Podcast Date: December 8, 2025
Hosts: Craig and Andrew
Book Discussed: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

Episode Overview

In this episode, Craig and Andrew dive into Dalton Trumbo’s classic 1939 anti-war novel, Johnny Got His Gun. The book, notorious for its visceral anti-war perspective and its unflinching examination of trauma, serves as the springboard for a wide-ranging discussion on its historical context, literary form, and enduring impact. Craig leads the conversation, having read the book for the first time, while Andrew draws parallels with other war literature and offers background on Trumbo’s tumultuous career.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why This Book? (05:52–08:44)

• Craig’s Introduction & Music Video Connection:
  Craig admits he only knew of the book due to Metallica’s "One" music video, which uses scenes from the film adaptation:

  "I didn't know much about it other than kind of the images of the movie I'd been exposed to, so was kind of eager to get in there." (09:01)

• Book Title Misconceptions:
  The hosts joke about conflating the title with "Johnny Get Your Gun" and Aerosmith lyrics (07:11–07:47).

2. About Dalton Trumbo (11:11–16:24)

• Biography:
  • Trumbo: born 1905, died 1976; renowned Hollywood screenwriter (e.g., Roman Holiday, Spartacus).
  • Blacklisted as one of the "Hollywood 10" for refusing to testify before HUAC during the Red Scare.
• Blacklisting Fallout:

  "These are screenwriters who are cited for contempt of Congress... This is the start of this nebulous blacklist..." (13:52)

  • Eventually restored to screen credit in 1960—signaling the blacklist's demise.

Notable Moment:

"Every purchase is a chance to choose something remarkable and feel good about where your money goes." (04:01, sponsor segment—relevant for later class discussions.)

3. Publication Context & Political Impact (17:21–20:17)

• Timing:
  Johnny Got His Gun was published just as WWII began and quickly became a political flashpoint.

  "It went to the printers in the spring of 39... after Pearl Harbor, he says, 'its subject matter seemed as inappropriate to the times as the shriek of bagpipes.'" (18:03)

• Pulled from Shelves:
  The Communist Party and US entry into WWII led to the book’s publication being suspended.

• Letter from Trumbo's Foreword:

  "...denouncing Jews, Communists, New Dealers, and international bankers who had suppressed my novel to intimidate millions of true Americans who demanded an immediate negotiated peace." (19:53)

• Censorship & FBI Involvement:
  Trumbo’s reports about threatening right-wing letters led to the FBI investigating him instead of the threat senders (19:59–20:06).

4. Anti-War Literature in Context (22:58–27:33)

• Comparison to Other Novels:
  Andrew notes that where All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse-Five draw on firsthand experience, Trumbo’s book instead leverages philosophical and class-based arguments, paired with experimental narrative techniques.

  "There are a few notes in this book that really, you can tell were written by someone with a, like a keen, articulated view on the class struggle. Like, there is a sense that war is being inflicted upon young men by the olds. By people without power, on people without power, by the people with power." (24:17)

5. Narrative Approach & Impact (27:04–27:55)

• Narrative Voice:
  The story is almost entirely internal, with fluid shifts between first, third, and even second person, blending stream-of-consciousness, memory, and poetic rumination.

  "It's entirely internal. So even when you are getting other scenes, it is because his mind is wandering... It is certainly an early 20th-century exploration of what the novel can do with voice." (27:33)

Deep Dive: Story Synopsis and Analysis

1. Set-up: Joe's Awakening and Realization (30:46–38:49)

• Main Character:
  Joe Bonham—not Johnny—wakes to find he’s been disfigured and immobilized by a WWI blast.

• Devastating Realization:
  The opening section methodically details Joe realizing his loss of hearing, sight, speech, arms, and legs.

  "He is a very keen observer of his own physical condition. I suppose he has no choice." (34:14)

• Survival Reflex:
  As each new horror manifests, Joe tries to rationalize or cope with it:

  "He'd never hear again. Well, there were a hell of a lot of things he didn't want to hear again... The hell with it. Like, yeah, okay, yeah, I don't want to hear anymore." (35:37)

2. Anti-War Rhetoric & Class Critique (38:02–41:07)

• Trumbo's Class Awareness:
  Joe reflects on being swept into a war none of his concern, highlighting the impersonal machinery of state violence:

  "Yet here you are, and it was none of your affair. Here you are, and you're hurt worse than you think." (38:09)

• Publication Context:
  Andrew and Craig reflect on the uniqueness of WWI fiction and the book’s ever-present political resonance.

3. Physical and Psychological Imprisonment (41:08–44:53)

• Gruesome Discovery:
  Joe realizes his arms have been amputated and, later, that his legs, eyes, mouth, and much of his face are gone.

  "He tries to scream about it. He does not have a mouth. He does not have a traditional setup." (43:23)

• Losing Trust in His Mind:
  As Joe becomes unsure of sleep, wakefulness, or sanity, the narrative’s claustrophobia and existential terror intensify:

  "It meant that he might be lying and thinking very solemnly about something that seemed important, while all the time he might really be asleep and dreaming..." (44:26)

4. Attempts at Coping and Communication (45:03–50:07)

• Measuring Time:
  Joe desperately struggles to measure time, eventually using the warmth of the sun to track day and night.

  "He could track the passage of days by when he gets warm during the day because the sun comes up." (46:33)

• Breakthrough—Morse Code:
  Joe eventually realizes the only agency he has is banging his head to communicate Morse code.

• Desperate Plea:
  When finally asked "What do you want?" ([48:38]), he responds that he wants to be allowed out as a living example of war—"put me in a glass case and take me around the world."

  • They refuse, citing "regulations," leaving Joe trapped—denied death, denied liberty.

  "What you ask is against regulations. Who are you? And he realizes that they're not going to let him free, but nor are they going to kill him." (50:07)

• Rallying Cry:
  The novel climaxes in a nearly revolutionary call:

  "We will use the guns you force upon us. We will use them to defend our very lives. And the menace to our lives does not lie on the other side of a no man's land... It lies within our own boundaries here and now we have seen it and we know it." (50:55)

5. Personal & Emotional Resonance (51:48–58:32)

• Indelibility:
  Craig stresses how unforgettable the book is, both in its viscerally rendered trauma and in its ideology.
• On “Most Original Book” Award ([16:08–16:32]):
  The hosts mock the oddness of the National Book Award’s “Most Original” category, equating it to a backhanded trophy.
• Mixed Effectiveness of Flashbacks:
  Andrew notes the flashbacks to pre-war life—while thematically reinforcing what’s lost—feel less essential and memorable than the main narrative.

6. Literature as Political Conduit (58:32–61:08)

• Anti-War Rhetoric as Fiction:
  Reading the book’s polemical passages within the prison of Joe’s body lends them weight absent in cheap pamphleteering:

  "...reading them in the context that I read them here, like they felt, you know, 80 years fresh or 90 years fresh or whatever they are." (58:39)

• Notable Passage:

  "Somebody tapped you on the shoulder and said, come along, son, we're going to war. So you went, but why? ...Somebody said, let's go out and fight for liberty. And so they got. So they went and got killed without everyone’s thinking about liberty." (59:00)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• "This is a book that I will probably carry with me in the same way that I carry with me, like, parts of, like, Canticle for Leibowitz..." —Craig (57:49)
• "The most compelling part of it for me is, like, how he is figuring out his life and how he is, you know, creatively enduring. And he does not seem to be getting sustenance from these memories." —Craig (53:57)
• "There are a few notes in this book that really, you can tell were written by someone with a, like a keen articulated view on the class struggle." —Craig (24:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Book Context & Trumbo's Background: 11:11–16:24
• Historical/Political Context & Reception: 17:21–20:17
• Structure & Literary Form: 27:04–27:55
• Narrative Summary & Analysis: 30:46–50:07
• Emotional Impact/Takeaways: 51:48–58:32
• Passages of Note/Anti-War Rhetoric: 58:39–61:08

Conclusion & Tone

Throughout, the hosts maintain a blend of irreverent banter and thoughtful critique, balancing gallows humor with sincerity in facing the book’s disturbingly bleak content. The episode provides rich historical and literary context, frames the novel’s anti-war message in both personal and political terms, and underscores the continued relevance—and punch—of Trumbo’s work.

Closing Reflection:
"If it sounded a little rough as I was describing it, it's rougher." —Craig (55:38)

Next Week: Andrew reads The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald.

[End of summary]