II.xiii – II.xv

Why does Joe start tapping?

Because Joe has no arms or legs and he basically has no communication with people he wanted to find a way to try and express his thoughts to others. When Joe is in the hospital in his bed he has visitors come down and see him every once in a while and he wants to be able to talk to them. In this chapter Joe has a special visitor that comes down and sees him. This person is his general that came down to the hospital to give Joe his award. When he was there Joe wanted to be able to communicate with him and therefore he tried tapping on his bed. No one understood what he was trying to do including the nurses who thought that he was getting mad. The nurses therefore gave Joe a sedative to make him cool off. All that Joe was trying to do was communicate and the nurses didn't understand. This was probably very frustrating for Joe who is trying so hard but he is in such a bad physical shape that he can barely do anything right.

II.xi – II.xii

Why does Joe decide to master time? How does he do it?

Joe decides to master time for a pretty simple reason. In the previous chapters Joe was never really conscious of time and what day it was. This bothered Joe and he wanted to do something about it. Joe is tired of not knowing what is going on around him at times and where he is during the day. Now that Joe seemed more emotionally stable he thought that he was ready to take on a new challenge and start mastering time. Joe tried doing this by counting seconds but that didn't work too well as he would get lost once he got close to the minute marker. Joe didn't lose hope though even though this method didn't quite work for him. Instead he decided to closely follow what the nurses did throughout the day that way he would be able to notice if it was morning time or evening. It ended up that this method worked out for him the best.

I.ix – I.x

What does Joe believe is worth fighting for? What isn't?

Joe believe that it is worth fighting for something that is extremely important, even more than your own life at the time. In the book Joe believes for example that a women is worth fighting for. Joe also explains that it is only worth fighting for something that is more important than your life because if you are only fighting for something to help you live you are risking your own life. It would be stupid to fight for something that will kill you because then you won't have the satisfaction to experience what you fought for.

According to Joe, it is also useless to fight for things such as liberty and freedom. Fighting for these things is useless and Joe thinks that the people that do fight for these things don't know what they are getting into and that they are wasting and putting their lives at risk. For example a solider may be fighting for honor but once he is in the middle of the battlefield bleeding heavily and about to die he isn't thinking about honor but how he wishes to live longer and see his family again. When you are dead you can't do anything more in your life, its over so in Joe's mind it is important to only fight for things that are extremely important and that will not cause you to die.

Although Joe believes all this he also believes that nothing is more important than your own life and if you are doing something to put it at risk you shouldn't do it.

I.vii - I.viii

Why does the rat come to visit Joe? What does it represent?

The rat comes to visit Joe while he is in the battlefield. Joe is wounded on his side and he has a small hole there because he was injured. The rat comes and eats away his side where he is hurt. Because Joe doesn't have any arms or legs he can't do anything about it and this is why the rat stuck in his mind for a long time. Joe is completely helpless and all he can do is think about this rat and that it has to go away by itself. To Joe, the rat represents the life that he had in the past. The rat also represented memories that Joe had in the battlefield. Because this happened while Joe was sleeping and that when he later woke up he was with a nurse in a hospital he doesn't quite know when he is in reality and when he is actually alive. Joe basically doesn't even know if he is sleeping or living. He has a very bad sense of reality and the whole rat situation made everything worse for him.

I.iv – I.vi

Why does Joe remember working at the bakery? What does he admire about Jose?

Joe was never really able to get a real good job and he wasn't hired at many places. He remembers working at the bakery because it was a job that he was able to get and that he ultimately liked. Although he liked working at the bakery he did end up finding a better job somewhere else. Because of this he tried to get fired from his job working at the bakery and he didn't work as good as he used to. Joe did things like dropping a pie in front of his boss Jose. Jose though forgives Joe and thinks that that wasn't a big problem. Because of this Joe drops a whole bunch of pies and then that time he was fired by Jose. Jose is a nice guy and wanted Joe to keep working for him. At least now Joe is able to focus more on his better job and he can move on with his life. He shouldve just told Jose that he wanted to quit though..

I.i - I.iii

What is Joe’s situation? Why does he compare it to drowning?

Joe is in a pretty bad situation straight from the beginning of this novel. Joe is in a hospital bed because he got his limbs cut off! At the hospital Joe falls asleep and he has a pretty strange dream that he is drowning! After that he finally wakes up he notices that he has no more arms or legs. The only thing he has left is a ring on his hand that was given to him and he strongly believes that the doctors shouldn't have to cut that off. I believe that the drowning he experienced in his dream symbolizes how he feels physically, without any energy and in a bad state of shape. I also believe that it represents him in society and how he "is drowning" into it. Joe seems to be in a difficult situation with a lot of things going through his mind and I dont think that he is a very happy person.