Drummer Boy at Shiloh

In the story “Drummer Boy at Shiloh” Joby (the main character) faces a problem. Joby lacks confidence. Joby is the drummer boy in the civil war. It is not made clear to the reader on which side Joby is on. Joby goes through changes in this story, he starts out as an unconfident drummer boy, after having a chat with the general he gains some of the confidence that he was lacking so much. Joby has very little confidence in the begging of the story and is scared. For example at night a peach blossom falls of a near by tree and wakes joby up and startles him. Another example is his says “All I got is a drum and 2 sticks to beat it.” In fact not only is Joby scared but the general also gives some hints to Joby that he to is scared. He says... “Go ahead and cry boy, I did the same last night.” This leads me to believe that maybe everyone is somewhat frightened by the fact that they might not live another day. Later on the General tells Joby probably the most important words anyone will ever tell him, “You are the heart and soul of this army boy.” This sentence by the general gives Joby his spark, “If you beat slow they march slow.” Joby suddenly feels that he means something more that just a boy with a drum and 2 sticks to beat it with. The general continues to tell him that, “He is the leader of the army, if he was to fall then Joby would lead the charge.” All of this leads Joby to being more confident. To sum it up Joby isn’t just a drummer boy at Shiloh, he is the heart of the army. Joby also changes though the story by becoming more confident.