The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

        In the passage, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh", by Ray Bradbury, I have noticed that Joby (The protagonist) has gone through some character development during an April night sometime before the war. In the beginning Exposition) Joby feels scared. Scared because he believes he will die, but he hides his noticeable fear through "lies" saying,

" Me, I'm the one, I'm the one of all the rest who wont die. I'll live through it. I'll go home. The band                                  
                                                 will play. And I'll be there to hear it."

I believe he pity's himself, for he does not want to partake in any of the war since he thinks he will die. Then, (Rising action) Joby feels even more scared since he is vulnerable. He does not have a weapon in hand, therefore, he believes he will surely die. Soon, the general appears and lectures him and the men (Soldiers) for being fools.

" Do you shave yet, boy? Even more of a fool. There's your cheek, fell night of the tree overhead. And the others here, not much older. Raw, raw the lot of you. You ready for tomorrow or the next day,
                                                                          Joby?"

The general tries to get Joby to man-up and stop crying, but then he admits that he himself was handling the situation no better.


        Next, (Climax) the general starts to convince Joby that he is indeed ver important for he is the "heart of the army".

 "You are the heart of the army. Think about that. Your are the heart of the army. Listen to me now."

Joby starts to listen, and the more he listens, the more courage he gets. He understands why he must do what he has to do. It is his destiny, to run through them, for the army, for the general, for HIMSELF.
After that, (Falling action) Joby is now not only confident, but ready to serve for everyones, including his own sake. He now knows that they cannot start nor finish without him.


        Finally, (Resolution) the general stops lecturing Joby, and ask's him the question he was destined to be asked from the beginning,

                                              " You'll run through for me then, boy?"



                                                                    " Yes, sir."


That was it, Joby was ready, and nothing could stop him. He believed in himself and the others believed in him.

" He lay next to it, his arm around it, feeling the tremor, the touch, the muted thunder as all the rest of the April night in the year 1862, near the Tennessee River, not for from the Owl Creek, very close to
                             the church named Shiloh, the peach blossoms fell on the drum"

I believe that Joby's character development relates to everyone in the world. Not everyone starts out confident, everyone can be scared. But that doesn't change who they are, who I am. We all gain a certain thing in life that takes time to receive.


                                                                      Courage.