Drummer Boy of Shiloh Reading Response

 
     On Thursday morning a woman came up to me on the bus and asked me how old I was, I told her that I am thirteen, the woman then said that she was asking because her nine year old daughter is also very tall, but she was self conscious because she was the tallest person in class, this connects to the story because Joby isn't confident until the general talks to him and makes Joby feel better about himself. In the story The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury Joby wasn't confident with himself until the general talked to him because he was the only soldier without a shield.This shows that everyone feels self conscious at some point in life.

   In the beginning of the story Joby had a hard time being the drummer boy because he's the only person in the war without a shield, all he had was a drum. "Me thought the boy, I got only a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield. There wasn't a man-boy on this ground tonight who did not have a shield". This shows that Joby is thinking about how he doesn't have anything to protect himself and it also shows that Joby feels alone because he's the only man-boy without something to protect himself."This drum was worse than a toy in the game to be played tomorrow or someday much too soon". Joby's thought show that he doesn't want/care about his drum he only wants to be able to protect himself and he wants someone to be there for him. 

   Towards the end of the story Joby was a little bit more confident with himself because the general talked to him. "If he, Joby, beat slow tomorrow, the heart would be slow in the men. They would lag by the wayside." Basically Joby's thinking that by not caring about how he's beating the drum and by beating it slowly all the soldiers would get tired and they just wouldn't want to fight anymore. "But if he beat a sure, steady, ever faster rhythm, then their knees would come up in a long line down over that hill, one knee after the other, like a wave on the ocean shore. Had he seen the ocean ever? Seen the waves rolling in like a well-ordered cavalry charge to the sand? Well, that was it, that's what he wanted, that's what he needed." This is when Joby realizes that it's a good thing that he's a drummer because when the soldiers hear him play the soldiers will be more energetic and there would be a bigger chance that they will actually win the war.
    
    All in all, everyone feels self conscious or alone some times but it's good to talk to someone because that person might make you feel better about yourself or they might make you feel more confident. I think this story is a great way to show people that you should always feel confident about what you do or who you are because you might not know it but you might be helpful to other people. It might be hard at first to accept who you are but then you have to realize that you can't do anything about it and who you are will always be a part of you, so you might as well accept yourself.