Sensations and touching
What stands out in the novel is the vivid way in which Joe’s memories of his past are described. While Joe is blind and deaf, his memories are vivid, full with color, dominated by different scents and sensations that he will never be able to experience again. This is somehow ironic when taking into consideration that those memories serve as a reminder for all the things Joe will never be able to experience again in his life.
Lucky ring
Before Joe leaves to fight in the war, he spends a night with his girlfriend Kareen who gives him a ring that was passed down to her from her mother to be a lucky charm and protect him. Ironically, not only does the ring not protect Joe, but Joe also loses the ring when Joe loses his limbs in the battle.
Killed by his wife
In the seven chapter, after Joe wakes up to realize that he lost all his limbs, he thinks how he must be considered lucky to be alive and how the doctors must be feeling proud because they managed to save him. Joe thinks about other soldiers who didn’t survived the war and he also remembers that there was a soldier who was badly wounded but was saved miraculously only to be killed later by his wife. This situation is presented as being in ironic one and also slightly amusing.
Lazarus
In the twelfth chapter, the story of Lazarus appears. Lazarus was the name gives to a foreign soldier shot by the American army. The body was let on the fence to rot until an officer ordered them to take the body and bury it. The soldiers took the body and burry it but a few days later the place was bombed and the body ended up once more on the same face. After that, a Corporal decided to offer the man a proper burry but was shot in the back during the speech he held at the funeral. The body was buried but ironically, it resurfaced again a few days later. Because of this, the body was ironically called Lazarus.
Animality
Joe thinks that he will be able to communicate with the outside world by using the Morse code. Joe tries to do this by trashing in his bed and banging his head to signal what he wanted to say. Ironically, his attempt at communicating with the nurses is interpreted as being something unsettling and a sign of distress and the nurses began to sedate him to stop him from trashing around.
