Johnny Got His Gun | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

Joe Bonham - The protagonist of JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, he 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.

Bill Bonham - The protagonist's father, he dies at age fifty-one in Los Angeles, California after a long illness.

Kareen Birkman - Joe Bonham's beautiful nineteen-year-old girl friend in Los Angeles, California, at the time he is drafted into the Army.

Mike Birkman - He is a tough, excitable twenty-eight-year veteran of the...
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