Born on the Fourth of July Ron Kovic is a paraplegic who has just been transferred to a hospital close to his home. He is beginning to realize that he will never have his life back, and refers many times to the fact that he has died already. Kovic wrote in Born on the fourth of July that, he thought that once he started working hard that he thought he could become the man that he used to be. As he sees his body deteriorating he begins to doubt that he will ever return to the well-built 21-year-old that he once was. He begins to pity himself and lose the motivation to try to recover from his injury.
Everywhere he looks, in the hospital, he can see the effects of the war, and is surrounded by men who have similar injuries, some have worse injuries, and some don't have the full extent of his injuries.
4th of July Parade, N.Y., 1911 (LOC)
Film poster for Born on the Fourth of July (film) ...
Ron KovicHe gives us a good description on the schedule they have, and the hardship they must encounter, not being able to do anything by himself. He especially has distaste for the enema that he is given every three days. It is a grueling experience, and he, along with his other roommates, try to ignore it, and like other experiences, pretend that it doesn't happen by sleeping through it, or distracting themselves from it.
Near the end of the story Kovic shares the story of when his mom and sister come to visit him, and he is trying a new machine that the hospital just got. He wants to try his best, but soon after he is put on the machine, and is standing on his own, he begins to vomit. His injury not only damaged his body, but also his emotions. It is hard for...