"The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh"

I have just finished reading "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury in my ELA class. This book is about a boy named Joby who doesn't want to be, or just doesn't want to be noticed. Joby is a young boy who  had gotten drafted into the war and was assigned to beat a drum when the soldiers would go out to fight.

Joby had first gotten noticed when he accidentally touched his drum with his elbow in the silence. In a way, I feel like Joby got embarrassed because he disturbed the silence and now that the General was walking towards his way there was going to be a scene. But maybe Joby's thoughts might've backfired. I say that because after the General approached him, he then started to give Joby advice. He said,"So each is his own army. I got to make one army of them. And for that, boy, I need you. You are the heart of the army." I think that right at that moment, Joby completely changed his way of thinking in terms of war. If i were Joby I would've felt that I actually did have an important roll to take on in the war.

This story also reminds me a lot of a short section of a story that i read in 7th grade called "The Things They Carried" because there was a General in the story who was just out of it, not focused, and kind of just wanted to go home. And I feel that this is how Joby felt before he got encouraged to be the heart of the army. The General in "The Things They Carried" was very unfocused and all he could think about was this one girl that he was in love with. And I feel that in a way, the soldiers in "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" were not really focused on war and they were only thinking about their families.

The General stresses the fact to Joby of how important being a drummer boy is. The General said to him that one day, he could be known as the Drummer Boy Of Shiloh, and that he would have a story to tell. Because Joby "set the pace" and the General gave the orders. In my opinion, I believe that the General gave him that strong speech because he might've noticed that out of all the soldiers Joby was the one who stood out because he had tried so hard to not be noticed. But I also feel like Joby kind of felt bad because he knew that he was going to be one of the few soldiers who lived. So maybe that's a reason why Joby didn't want to be noticed.

All in all, Joby's attitude did switch from the beginning of the story to the end because the general had given him the WILLPOWER! He gave Joby the willpower to be brave and to set the mood of his ally soldiers. He was the one who would decide the beat of the drum, the way the soldiers would fight, and how much strength they would put out. Because he… was Joby, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.