Importance of Shell Shock in Pat Barker's Regeneration
Pat Barker's Regeneration contains references to people, places, and cultural elements of particular significance to her themes as well as to the study of the First World War. One cultural reference, that of shell shock, is made early in the novel. On page four, Dr. William Rivers learns that Siegfried Sassoon is being sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital with a case of shell shock. To prevent shell shock from crippling the patients, Craiglockhart emphasizes the value of therapy, a theme in the novel, as a way to fight back against the mental battles.
The term shell shock was first coined in 1915 by C.S. Myers in The Lancet to describe the disorder found on the battlefield in soldiers who had been exposed to an exploding shell (Spiller). During the beginning of World War One, the disorder was common only among soldiers. Victims were often mocked and labeled cowards by their peers, causing many to desert the army. Around three hundred of these men were shot, and hundreds more were imprisoned for their apparent cowardness (Storr). Soon officers began falling ill as well, and by 1917, the ratio of shell-shocked officers to shell-shocked enlisted men was an astounding 1: 6 (Bourke). With this shift, shell shock became recognized as a legitimate medical disorder.
The symptoms of shell shock were numerous and varied from soldier to soldier. Physical effects ranged from trembling, sweating, insomnia, diarrhea, and minor twitches to paralysis, blindness, and muteness. Victims also experienced anguish, anxiety, and the inability to control their emotions. As a result, most were unable to separate their past from reality. During the war, psychologist Karl Bimbaum observed "great weariness and profuse weeping, even in otherwise strong men" (Spiller). Many of the soldiers exhibited what Sigmund Freud termed conversion disorders, which were subconsciously-formed problems such as the inability to walk, talk, see, or hear (Stuttaford). These symptoms were beyond the patients' control.
Shell shock had devastating effects on the British Army. Over 80,000 cases of shell shock were treated during World War One (Bourke). Even after the war, symptoms continued to surface in a majority of the victims. Years later, many veterans still complained of frequent nightmares and hallucinations. In 1927, over 65,000 men remained in mental hospitals suffering from shell shock acquired during the war (Spiller). In every military conflict since World War One, shell shock has been a problem among combat forces.
Within the novel Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, the character Billy Pilgrim claims to have come “unstuck” in time. Having survived through being a Prisoner of War and the destruction of Dresden during World War II, and having been a prisoner used to clear away debris of the destruction, there can be little doubt that Pilgrim’s mental state was unstable. Furthermore, it may be concluded that Pilgrim, due to the effects of having been a Prisoner of War, and having been witness to the full magnitude of destruction, suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which caused him to review the events over and over during the course of his life. In order to understand how these factors, the destruction of Dresden and ‘PTSD’, came to make Billy Pilgrim “unstuck” in time, one must review over the circumstances surrounding those events.
For example, further interviews recorded by White in “Remembrance, Retrospection, and the Women’s Land Army in World War I Britain” explained that “priority was given to [women] with agricultural experience” and those who had no experience were obligated to “complete six weeks of training [at] agricultural college” (White 165). As a result of this, the number of women pursuing education in colleges and schools skyrocketed. Furthermore, as war led to an increase in the number of injured men, there was a shortage of nurses, and women swarmed into medical universities to receive their educations so they could serve as nurses. In his “Universities, medical education, and women,” Watts states that when it was observed that women could “join the popular and increasing band of professional nurses … women were striving to gain university admission” (Watts 307). Since women during this time period were accustomed to working at home and taking care of a family, it did not take much time for a notable amount of stay-at-home women to transition to nursing. Since nurses were at such a shortage during a period of war, universities were extremely willing to provide women with education in the medical field. In addition, as men across the country were constantly being deployed to the battlefield, vacancies in
In Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five the main character Billy Pilgrim experiences few emotions during his time in World War II. His responses to people and events lack intensity or passion. Throughout the novel Billy describes his time travel to different moments in his life, including his experience with the creatures of Tralfamadore and the bombing of Dresden. He wishes to die during most of the novel and is unable to connect with almost anyone on Earth. The fictional planet Tralfamadore appears to be Billy’s only way of escaping the horrors of war, and acts as coping mechanism. Billy seems to be a soldier with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as he struggles to express feelings and live in his reality. At the beginning of the novel the narrator proposes his reason for writing the book is to explain what happened in the Dresden fire bombing, yet he focuses on Billy’s psyche more than the bombing itself. PTSD prevents Billy from living a healthy life, which shows readers that the war does not stop after the fighting is over and the aftermath is ongoing. Billy Pilgrim’s story portrays the bombing and war in a negative light to readers, as Vonnegut shows the damaging effects of war on an individual, such as misperception of time, disconnect from peers, and inability to feel strong emotions, to overall create a stronger message.
Wright, Contributed By Catherine M. Women during the Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
Most women felt that it was their national responsibility to do what was right for their country. Like most women of her time, Alcott wanted to participate and contribute to the war effort. The qualification to be a nurse w...
They were considered no use to the society, because they were labeled as being weak. They wanted to be privileged with the same roles as the men did, such as fighting in a battle. The Civil War gave the women an opportunity to do something about their wants. They took action by disguising themselves as men, so they would be able to attend the war. The woman began to take part in other battles that occurred as well. Many of them were able to get away with the scam for a while, until they ended up dead or injured. Those who did not want to join forces and fight still managed to participate in the war in several other ways, like supplying them with things they needed. They decided to take control over things such as teaching jobs, industries, slaves, and family farms and businesses. Women from the North and the South volunteered as nurses during the
Over 5000 volunteer nurses’ north and south served in military hospitals during the Civil War. Nurses were of all sorts and came from all over. Women wanted to be involved in this national struggle in any way they could. They did not want to stay home and play their traditional domestic roles that social convention and minimal career opportunities had confined the majority of their sex to. Many women thought of nursing as an extension of their home duties, almost like taking care of “their boys.” They recall the Civil War as a time when their work as nurses made a difference. It gave them an opportunity to prove they had the ability and courage to help.
Brackman, in “Civil War Women: Their Quilts, their Roles, Activities for Re-Enactors,” tells the stories of nurses, refugees, civilians, and spies during the Civil War. Bold stories of women who are taking care of children and wounded soldiers having to flee their burning homes to save their families. The horror of hospital work with seeing many men dying in agony from battle wounds that are infect by maggots and disease. There is a story that a woman named Georgeanna Woosley made up a costume for women nurses that were not used in the hospitals. Sarah Hill notes on a ship that she saw this costume and knew from the hat and hoop skirt that Woosley was not a nurse.
McPeak, Commissioner, Julie Mix. “History Of The Barber Pole.” Department Of Commerce And Insurance. Department of Commerce and Insurance, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Now prior to the Civil War, women in the South were legally barred from purchasing slaves, since Antebellum society believed that such an action would be un-lady like. Now with the men away fighting for their lives, These Southern Mistresses began to take charge and run their plantations utilizing their armies of slaves, while enjoying the freedoms brought to them by the lack of archaic rules. Now in this new society, Southern Mistresses were able to have jobs within the Confederate government, or held positions of authority in field hospitals. Catherine Wright, writes in her article “Women in the Civil War”, for the encyclopedia of Virginia, that “Wealthy white women often had the privilege of volunteering, rather than working for wages, and they were frequently awarded positions of greater authority”. Southern mistresses of this era would volunteer, as both a way to flaunt their wealth towards others as well as to show their support to the Confederacy, by volunteering as nurses in confederate hospitals. This marking the first time in Southern history, where women were working as nurses for sick and wounded soldiers. Now southern mistresses were able to volunteer their time, since their personal slaves were able to take care of their personal
At the beginning of the Civil War, women had a less hands-on role in the Civil War. Women began organizing aid societies at the start of the war. These organizations provided the troops with vital supplies. They canned food and planted gardens to keep the troops strong and healthy. Many women washed and sewed uniforms, knitted socks and gloves, and made blankets. Without these much needed supplies the women provided, troops would have had difficulty in the winter and many may have severely suffered and died from the harsh northern winters. As the war effort progressed, Women began to feel the need for a more active role. The United States Government the agreed to the establishment of the United States Sanitary Commission. The United States Sanity Commission’s main objective was to provide the Union with fifteen million dollars in supplies to assist in the fighting of disease by improving camp and hospital conditions. Even with the creation of the United States Sanitary Commission, women’s hunger to have a more operative role in helping the troops was not satisfied. (History.com Staff)
Lawrence Hill Books, c2009 Bracken, Patrick and Celia Petty (editors). Rethinking the Trauma of War. New York, NY: Save the Children Fund, Free Association Books, Ltd, 1998.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
Austen, Jane, and Donald J. Gray. Pride and Prejudice. An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds, Reviews, and Essays in Criticism. New York: Norton, 1966. Print.
During the Revolutionary War women played an important role as nurses to the soldiers and were even paid. Women were so important during this time because they were able to provide the necessary general care for the soldiers like wound dressing, bed cleaning, making meals, and even making and providing medications. Women really helped because they were able to take some of the burden of the “doctor” who could be responsible for up to 600 soldiers at a time. (PDF)