The drummer boy of Shiloh

 In the drummer boy of Shiloh, Joby is a drummer boy in the war. Throughout the story Joby learns the value of his position as the drummer boy. Joby along with some help of the general learns how he is important to the army.

In the beginning Joby thinks that a drummer boy in the war is not an important role. ‘Me’ thought the boy ‘I only got a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield’. Joby is saying that all he has in the war is his drum and two drumsticks. Joby thinks that those are the only things he has that belong to him. Joby thinks of himself as just the drummer boy in the war and nothing else. He thinks his role in the war is to just to beat the drum as the army is marching. “-leaving him with this drum which was worse than a toy in the game to be played tomorrow or someday much too soon”.  Joby is thinking that all he has is his drum, and that both he and his drum are just toys in the game that is the war. He says “which was worse than a toy in the game to be played”. Joby is comparing his position as a drummer boy to that of a toy in a useless game.

Along Joby’s journey the general helps him realize the importance of his role as the drummer boy in the war. “You are the heart of the army. Think about that. You are the heart of the army. Listen to me, now”. “if he , Joby, beat slow tomorrow, the heart would beat slow in the men………They would sleep forever after that-in those same fields, their hearts slowed by a drummer boy and stopped by enemy lead”. The general tells Joby that he is the heart of the army. This makes Joby think that by beating slow is like making the army’s pace slow down. “But if he beat a sure, steady, ever faster rhythm, then, 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”. Joby realizes that if he does the opposite the army would stay together at a steady pace. He starts to see what the general means when he says that Joby is the heart of the army. He realizes that with the steady beat of his drum he keeps the army united.

Joby then starts to realize how important the role of the drummer boy in the war really is. He learns that with his drum beat he is leading the army. “So there you are, that’s it. Will you do that boy? Do you know now you’re General of the Army when the general’s left behind?” The general is telling Joby that in a way he is the General of the Army. This helps Joby realize that like a general keeps an army united, his steady drumbeat keeps the army together. This helps Joby realize that with his drumbeat he is leading the army. Joby’s pace keeps the army going at either an encouraging pace or a not so encouraging pace.

Joby starts to think a different way of his role in the war. He starts to see that whoever has the role of the drummer boy is the heart of the army. Joby learns that the drummer boy is in a way the General of the Army. The real value of the position of a drummer boy soon becomes clear to Joby. Just like Joby many people don’t realize the real value/importance in other people’s lives or even their own.