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Kareen
Bill Harper is one of Joe’s closest friends in Shale City, Colorado, although their relationship sometimes gets contentious. Bill Harper is there on the fateful camping trip where Joe loses Joe’s father’s treasured fishing rod. He also goes behind Joe’s back to kiss Joe’s ex-girlfriend Diane. Bill Harper represents the start of Joe’s transition to adulthood as he forces Joe to deal with some tough new situations. Bill’s eventual death in World War I provides yet another example of the destructive effects of war.
Bill Harper Quotes in Johnny Got His Gun
The Johnny Got His Gun quotes below are all either spoken by Bill Harper or refer to Bill Harper. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9 Quotes
He felt a little lump in his throat that even as he was deserting his father for Bill Harper his father had volunteered the rod.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Bill Harper Character Timeline in Johnny Got His Gun
The timeline below shows where the character Bill Harper appears in Johnny Got His Gun. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...Joe protests at first, but he agrees to come. Joe thinks about how he hit Bill Harper , the innocent boy who delivered the news to him that Diane was on a...
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As Joe passes Diane’s house, he sees her on the front steps kissing Bill Harper . Joe goes home, his whole body aching after the long day. He’s sad not...
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...He imagines Glen Hogan and Howie still living somewhere in Colorado, but he knows that Bill Harper died in the war. Joe feels mixed up and tries to remember what he’s doing....
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Chapter 9
...and lakes that he’s gone to ever since he was seven. He’s going fishing with Bill Harper , and it’s the first time he’s been fishing with someone other than his father,...
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Joe is sleeping in a tent with his father, when Bill Harper comes by to start their fishing trip. At first Joe and Bill Harper’s fishing goes...
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Chapter 13
Joe remembers using Morse code to send messages to Bill Harper on a telegraph machine when he was younger. Using his head on the pillow, he...
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Chapter 14
Joe recalls another time when he was 17 or 18. In Joe’s flashback, he and Bill Harper decide to visit a mysterious house that belongs to a woman named Stumpy Telsa. Older...
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Joe and Bill Harper talk with the women for half an hour before Stumpy Telsa sends Joe and Bill...
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