The Drummer Boy
KEY: Short Story Analysis of "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
Title: “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh”
Author: Ray Bradbury
Famous for writing science fiction, especially for the novel Fahrenheit 451.
Setting General Time: Civil War (1860- 1864)
Specific Time: April, begins at midnight and lasts for about 30 min. the night before a battle
General place: the South, Tennessee Specific place: battle site, near the church at Shiloh, by Owl Creek
Protagonist: Joby, the drummer boy (we don’t know which side of the battle he is on)
Conflict Internal or external? Internal Man versus self
Antagonist: Joby’s fear of battle, his lack of belief that he will survive due to his feelings of disconnection, lonliness, unimportance, lack of purpose, etc.
Climax: when the general asks Joby if he will beat the drum the way he must in order to motivate the soldiers and lead them into battle, If he will truly be “the heart of the army”
Resolution: Joby accepts his new role in the battle with solemn dignity and courage, believeing that he is now connected to a “family” (the army), that he has an extremely important purpose, and that he will survive.
Theme:
1. To face life’s crisises with courage and faith, everyone needs to feel connected to others, to feel pride in his/her purpose, and to believe that overcoming the problem is possible.
2. Appearances may be deceiving; often that which seems least important may actually be immeasurably valuable.
Find the following literary devices in this story:
Two examples of metaphor
1. “Similarly strewn steel bones of their rifles” (comparing the rifles to skeletons) p5
2. “its great lunar face” (comparing the shape and color of the drum skin to the moon) p5
3. enemy army “turning slow, basting themselves with the thought of what they would do when the time came” (comparing the soldiers turning over and over in their restless sleep as they dream of battle to something
Title: “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh”
Author: Ray Bradbury
Famous for writing science fiction, especially for the novel Fahrenheit 451.
Setting General Time: Civil War (1860- 1864)
Specific Time: April, begins at midnight and lasts for about 30 min. the night before a battle
General place: the South, Tennessee Specific place: battle site, near the church at Shiloh, by Owl Creek
Protagonist: Joby, the drummer boy (we don’t know which side of the battle he is on)
Conflict Internal or external? Internal Man versus self
Antagonist: Joby’s fear of battle, his lack of belief that he will survive due to his feelings of disconnection, lonliness, unimportance, lack of purpose, etc.
Climax: when the general asks Joby if he will beat the drum the way he must in order to motivate the soldiers and lead them into battle, If he will truly be “the heart of the army”
Resolution: Joby accepts his new role in the battle with solemn dignity and courage, believeing that he is now connected to a “family” (the army), that he has an extremely important purpose, and that he will survive.
Theme:
1. To face life’s crisises with courage and faith, everyone needs to feel connected to others, to feel pride in his/her purpose, and to believe that overcoming the problem is possible.
2. Appearances may be deceiving; often that which seems least important may actually be immeasurably valuable.
Find the following literary devices in this story:
Two examples of metaphor
1. “Similarly strewn steel bones of their rifles” (comparing the rifles to skeletons) p5
2. “its great lunar face” (comparing the shape and color of the drum skin to the moon) p5
3. enemy army “turning slow, basting themselves with the thought of what they would do when the time came” (comparing the soldiers turning over and over in their restless sleep as they dream of battle to something