The Drummer Boy of Shiloh is a
short story written by the author Ray Bradbury featuring a drummer boy by the
name of Joby, during the time of the Civil War, before the battle of Shiloh.
The story opens on a peach orchard near the church of Shiloh, where a restless
army waits for dawn, and closes on the same orchard. It would seem that nothing
has changed in the orchard, but it has. Or shall I say, Joby has. Joby has gone
from a scared and lonely child to a purposeful and ready young man in time for
the upcoming battle. This change comes courtesy of the father figure General.
Bradbury shows how important a strong father is to a pubescent boy in this
coming of age story.
The
General, his name and allegiance unspecified, is introduced as a person of
great importance, but is then shown to be a father figure. When Bradbury
introduces the General as a character, he includes a detailed description of
his scent. “He smelled as all fathers should smell, of salt-sweat, tobacco,
horse and boot leather and the earth he walked upon.” This describes the
General as what any man in the orchard at that moment may have smelled like, as
they all probably wore leather boots and had become sweaty from marching in
their uniforms. However, Joby interprets this scent as the scent of a “father,”
and therefore he sees the General as such. Joby needs a father figure because
he does not have his parents with him. He says that he feels his parents “go
farther away into the dark,” showing that either they or he left the other and
that he feels the absence of parental figures. Before the General comes Joby is “mak(ing)
himself small.” He is trying to hide from the world. However, when the General
comes to talk to him, he draws back out from his shell and sits up, not hiding
from the world anymore. The General is a father figure to Joby because Joby
interprets his scent as such, which begins to draw Joby out of his shell
because of his need for a father figure since his parents are both absent.
The General
is definitely a father figure to Joby, and having a strong authoritative yet
caring presence in your life is important to a young teenager. An example of
the importance of a strong father figure in Bradbury’s is the change that Joby
goes through, The act that initiates and brings upon this change is when the General
comes to Joby and sits beside him to talk to him of his importance, which Joby has
very much doubted. Before the General comes to Joby, Joby is described as
thinking of himself as “no more than a toy,” as compared to the other men in
the army who he believes can defend themselves with their swords and shields
and guns while Joby only has a drum which he sees as a handicap. He does not
want dawn and the battle to come; he tries to hide by “living small” and
folding himself up noiselessly so that nobody notices him. He is “crying before
a fight,” a mess before the battle, lost and confused. He needs someone to show
him which way to turn and what his purpose as a soldier is. This is where the
General comes in. After the General speaks to Joby, Joby slowly arouses himself
from the self-pity and despair he is feeling about what is to come. The General
sits down and talks to Joby about how important he is to the whole army. The
General describes him as “his (the General’s) right hand and his left.” He says
that Joby is like “the heart of the army” who “sets the pace,” of the morale
and therefore the army’s prospects. The General invokes the confidence in Joby
that Joby did not know existed. Slowly Joby begins to right himself and pull
together. He realizes that he can’t just hide, that he needs to be there for
the army. He “swallows” and “wipes his eyes.”
The change is clear. Joby needed someone to help him get back on his
feet and point him in the direction to go, and a strong father figure like the
General did just that.
Bradbury’s
story proves that a strong father figure is important to teenagers like 14-year-old
Joby. The General is a father figure because of Joby’s interpretation of him
and because of his need for one. This presence helps change Joby from a hiding
scared boy, to a stronger and ready young man. The General as a father figure
gives Joby direction, and Joby is ready for the dawning battle.
