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Kareen is Joe’s girlfriend before he goes to fight in World War I. One of Joe’s formative memories is spending the whole night in Kareen’s arms before he ships off the next day. Long after the last time Joe sees Kareen, he continues to imagine her, sometimes picturing that she might even come to see him in the hospital (although he knows it’s highly unlikely this would ever happen, given that the hospital staff don’t know Joe’s identity). The thought of seeing Kareen both excites Joe and horrifies him because he doesn’t want her to see him in his current condition. Kareen represents one of the many things that Joe left behind and lost when going to war.
Kareen Quotes in Johnny Got His Gun
The Johnny Got His Gun quotes below are all either spoken by Kareen or refer to Kareen. 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 3 Quotes
They didn’t sleep very much. Sometimes they dozed off and awakened and found that they were apart and came back to each other and held one another tight very tight as if they had been lost forever and had just found each other all over again.
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Kareen Character Timeline in Johnny Got His Gun
The timeline below shows where the character Kareen appears in Johnny Got His Gun. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...ring he had on that hand and wants it back. It’s a moonstone. He remembers Kareen giving it to him and how she kissed him one day after he got drafted...
(full context)
In Joe’s memory, he and Kareen are kissing when Old Mike Birkman, Kareen’s father, enters the house and interrupts them. But...
(full context)
At first, Kareen is shy, but eventually she gets naked and goes to bed. Joe also takes off...
(full context)
As he boards the train, Joe sees his mother, his sisters, Kareen, and Old Mike there standing on the platform to see him off. People in the...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...Colorado River, which passes through Shale City. As he floats, he imagines being back with Kareen in her room and begging her to stay near him. He fears she’ll drown if...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...that he’ll never again see the faces of the people who make him happy, like Kareen, and that he’ll never walk again.
(full context)
Chapter 12
...really is to the people outside. Each day, he imagines himself going to sleep with Kareen. Though she must now be in her early twenties, she’ll always be 19 in his...
(full context)
Chapter 13
...lots of vibrations and realizes he has visitors. He pictures his mother, his sisters, and Kareen. But his excitement soon fades when he realizes that he doesn’t want anyone he knows...
(full context)
