realizations aren't quite so grand as you planned

Joe realizes at the end of the novel that democracy is not worth fighting for because democracy is not a concrete idea and democracy is what is making him fight. He hates that they are makign him fight. He is fighting and fighting for something that he doesnt believe in and when he realizes this he turns the gun that they gave him to fight on them. He turns the gun on the people who are making him fight. These people aren't even fighting for themselves, they are making people fight for them. THis is why Joe turns the gun on them.