John Brown by Bob Dylan Poem Analysis

Bob Dylan wrote the anti-war song/poem "John Brown" in 1962. Dylan's official studio albums never featured this song. In twelve stanzas, a ballad in form tells a story of John Brown and relates to us the flawed idealization of war, written in a clear, easy-to-comprehend language. 

Robert Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning 60 years and is known songs that chronicle social and political issues. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 for his outstanding contribution in creating new poetic expressions in the American song tradition.

Bob Dylan's song "John Brown" is on the futility and vanity of war. The song represents a separation from the extremism of battle while simultaneously voicing the anguish of the warriors who have endured in combat. It was written in the postmodern period. The song follows the life of a young soldier (John Brown) who was enthusiastically sent off to war by his mother who expected glory, honour, and awards, but John Brown returned many months later in a distorted shape, "all shot up." The singer depicts the genuine fate of American servicemen stationed in foreign countries for military purposes. He also raises issues about the essence of war, demonstrating that there is no nobility in combat, bolstering the idea of pacifism. Pacifism is the belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means. 

The poem starts the narrative saying the mother was delighted and very proud of john brown for going to war and serve the nation. This gives readers the impression that John Brown’s mother may be a patriot and was fascinated with the national services even though she personally did not take part in them. John Browns body language is described as “straight” and “tall” which indicates that he took pride in becoming a soldier. This verse includes literary devices like “stood straight” and internal rhyme “tall” and ”all” to give more emphasis. The conversation in the second verse depicts how much common citizens respect soldiers and how much admiration they have for such a position. They invest so much fascination on something they are not even fully aware of, like the consequences of war. She admires her son's appearance when he dons a soldier's uniform. The medals that her son will bring are something she is really interested in as it was a method of flaunting as is her bragging to everyone that her son is a solider in the third verse suggesting her shallow views towards war. This indicates the false glory associated with the war. The mother saying she was proud of her son holding a gun and fighting their country is rather ironic as that is what leads to “John Browns impending doom”. The usage of the phrase “old train” communicates a sense of continuity experienced by other soldiers. She was confident that her son would return home from the war uninjured. She was also far too arrogant to recognize that war was not a game and that she may never see her son again.

She receives letters as the only form of communication from her son and also a sign of her son’s valour that she further boast about to the people around her. To the mother it might be about the admiration she receives even though she herself did not directly participate in war when she shows off the brave son she raised. The repetition of the phrase “good old-fashioned war” emphasizes the sarcasm implied along with the idea of war being outdated. The letter ceasing to come suggested either he was in action or was incapable for holding correspondence which could imply that he was injured. Upon receiving the letter informing the mother that John Brown was coming home, she was delighted. She looked everywhere but could not find her soldier son. After the station cleared out, she saw her son, brutally disfigured and barely recognizable. She could not believe her eyes. John’s face had been badly brusied. His face was shot up and his hand was blown off while his waist was wrapped around a metal brace for support. He had become almost unrecognizable to his own mother. He could hardly move or talk. The use of an exclamation in “While she couldn’t even recognize his face!” expresses the revelation John’s mother felt. Even though injuries are to be expected while fighting battles; John Brown’s mother seemed so unprepared to face such a situation as she had an arrogant /proud mindset, a mindset a lot of citizens have. She asks about how this came to be; as she turned her face away as if she had not expected that this was something that could potentially happen, being immersed in her own pride and fantasy on how her son would return as a hero rather than her son becoming partially impaired due to the physical and mental trauma he went through. 

John Brown seemed to be condemning his mother's pursuit of him as a soldier. Joining the army, according to his mother, was the finest thing he could do. But she was mistaken, he realized after he faced the hardships of war. He didn't think it was honorable at all. He was fighting in the war on the battlefield, while his mother was proud of her soldier son at home. Fighting the war caused John Brown to go through disillusionment that causes him to get frustrated at the viciousness of the war. In the tenth verse John Brown talked of the pointless nature of the war and that he wondered why he was there. The scenario made it plain that John Brown either had to kill his foe or risk being killed himself. It's the war's reality. It isn't a source of pride. The fact that his intended assailant looked exactly like him terrified John Brown the most. This signifies that this soldier was also an innocent chap like himself, who would not personally going to gain or lose anything besides a few medals or his physiological and/or emotional wellbeing at the end of the war. Both troops became victims of the same conflict. Despite the fact that they had no connection to the war's origin or repercussions, they were obligated to kill their own brothers. Bob Dylan discusses the global fraternity and how John Brown felt like he was committing fratricide. In the end, war is merely a waste of human life. Bob Dylan compared the soldiers’ action in war with a puppet show as they were ordered to kill mindlessly without feeling remorse. The “play” being a metaphorical reference to politics.  Him being a “puppet in a play” cost him dearly but it didn't matter if he survived or died. The only thing that mattered to them was the win or loss.

His mother still in shock. When she sent her son to war, she imagined him as young man in uniform, but now she saw a traumatized man return. She was still in disbelief when she realized what had happened to him. The gesture of John Brown dropping the medal on his mother's hand makes reader wonder if John Brown even wanted to have anything with them and if a simple medal, an empty mark of pride, was worth the pain he endured and the trauma he will carry with him for the rest of his life. 

They both suffered as a result of the war, the son physically and psychologically, his mother emotionally. Ironically, the war only provides them with a few medals and a lifetime of pain and agony. The name John is a very common English name and it represents all the people that serve in the army and go to war. The main character could have been named this to relate in some aspect with the large masses and try to evoke the feeling of empathy knowing that someday it could be the person themselves or people around them who through such a grim experience. The mother’s reaction to her son becoming a solider depicts how nationalism plays with the sentiment of common people like John Brown and his mother.

Bob Dylan clearly builds a bridge between fancy and reality. The poem two contrasted attitudes towards war. One who has no firsthand experience fighting in a war but fantasizes of the glory of the war and another who really understands the futility of war after going through it.  John Brown’ attitude is what I sympathize with as it is morally correct and it shows us the realities of war. He criticizes how wars were glorified and its horrors were ignored to make it seem a worthwhile endeavor. When as stated above it just takes lives of the youth without anybody having a real personal gain. 

The poem's universality stems from the fact that it does not specifically allude to any particular war. Any type of war in any country is the worst thing that can happen. Any conflict that soldiers fight has a physical and psychological impact on them.