Joe Bonham

The protagonist of Johnny Got His Gun, Joe Bonham is a twenty-year-old draftee when the novel begins, lying in a hospital bed, somewhere unknown, having lost his arms, legs, eyes, ears, nose, and tongue to a high-explosive shell. He was born and raised in Shale City, Colorado, to frugal, loving parents. Joe has two younger sisters, Catherine and Elizabeth. As a kid, Joe was given to daydreams and nightmares, but paid little attention in school. As he comes of age, Joe has girlfriends, including the unfaithful Diane, falls in love with a local prostitute, and loses his best friend, Bill Harper, and his father's prized fishing rod.

The family moves to Los Angeles after Joe's graduation and he began to work in a bakery on the night shift. He walks eleven miles a night at the bakery, hefting ninety pounds of bread hundreds of times a night...