A theme present throughout the novel was the ripple effect of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD - on the lives of those suffering and those who surround them. I thought this less talked about topic was brought to light in an effectively confronting way. A handful of chapters reflecting on Andy’s memories fighting in Afghanistan/Iraq showed what may be going on in someone’s mind that has fought in a war. “Shock waves ripple through metal, glass, and flesh. Bones crumble. Skin explodes. Nerves snap. Brains slosh and spill in dented tin skulls. Arteries spray like high pressure hoses, painting the world a bright, sad red.” Later, when talking to a young man, he tells him, “Killing people is easier than it should be.” “Staying alive is the hard part.” These lines show a deeper reality of war and what it’s like after returning, still haunted by the memories. …show more content…
This then opened the story line up and consequently made it easier for others to get involved and help. Whether this is a realistic demonstration of what those with PTSD think and how they act, I do not know. But I do think it makes the reader consider it more than they may have. It seems to me that Laurie Halse Anderson has aimed to draw attention to the topic but in a more discreet way, covering it with a storyline, characters and other issues. I understand that PTSD does influence families with members that have gone to war and that they may struggle. It is an issue in society and while not everyone will have a personal connection to it, I still believe it is important to be educated and have a basic understanding on the topic which is what, I think, this novel has helped
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition, similar to an anxiety disorder, that is triggered by trauma and other extremely stressful circumstances. Throughout the book, Junger talks about PTSD in a wide range:from PTSD rates in natural disaster victims to PTSD rates in veterans. The latter is explained on a deeper perspective. While Junger gave many examples of why PTSD rates in America were so high, the most captivating was:
In the book Soldier's Heart By Gary Paulsen the main theme is how war changes a person.
The Death Ray by Daniel Clowes is a graphic novel about the story of Andy and how he learned about his superpowers. A superhero is someone who has saved the day by accomplishing something heroic. Even though we look at superheroes as a something fiction, based on this we have everyday heroes around us such as firefighters, police officers, doctors and many more. In Clowes work, we quickly discover that this superhero theme plays out a little differently than what we are used to. The way that Clowes presents Andy to his super power, it is evident this is not an ordinary superhero story. It is arguable that despite the fact that Andy did more harm than good with his powers, his intentions were good. Therefore, he would be considered a superhero.
The violent nature that the soldiers acquired during their tour in Vietnam is one of O'Brien's predominant themes in his novel. By consciously selecting very descriptive details that reveal the drastic change in manner within the men, O'Brien creates within the reader an understanding of the effects of war on its participants. One of the soldiers, "Norman Bowler, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a Thumb. . .The Thumb was dark brown, rubbery to touch. . . It had been cut from a VC corpse, a boy of fifteen or sixteen"(O'Brien 13). Bowler had been a very good-natured person in civilian life, yet war makes him into a very hard-mannered, emotionally devoid soldier, carrying about a severed finger as a trophy, proud of his kill. The transformation shown through Bowler is an excellent indicator of the psychological and emotional change that most of the soldiers undergo. To bring an innocent young man from sensitive to apathetic, from caring to hateful, requires a great force; the war provides this force. However, frequently are the changes more drastic. A soldier named "Ted Lavender adopted an orphaned puppy. . .Azar strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the firing device"(O'Brien 39). Azar has become demented; to kill a puppy that someone else has adopted is horrible. However, the infliction of violence has become the norm of behavior for these men; the fleeting moment of compassion shown by one man is instantly erased by another, setting order back within the group. O'Brien here shows a hint of sensitivity among the men to set up a startling contrast between the past and the present for these men. The effect produced on the reader by this contrast is one of horror; therefore fulfilling O'Brien's purpose, to convince the reader of war's severely negative effects.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that develops when an individual experiences or lives through a life-threatening event. (NIH 2010) These individuals react with intense fear, helplessness, or horror. On a daily basis, the Troops overseas live through life-threatening events. These events are why 12-30% of warfighters develop combat-related PTSD. Troops are prepared for duty but are unprepared for psychological effects of war. We can witness the effects of PTSD in American Literature. One unusual example of these impacts could be shown in the novel, The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a symbol of combat-related PTSD, which he inquires during World War One(WWI) while stationed with the 17th Infantry. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is described to have many symptoms and risk factors of PTSD. Jay Gatsby’s
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
A Lasting Impact It is estimated that anywhere between ten and thirty-one percent of Vietnam veterans have experienced post traumatic stress disorder sometime in their life. However, just because someone has not been labeled with that disorder, it does not mean there have not been long-lasting affects on that person. Throughout the book, we see the initial and long-lasting impacts that the Vietnam war has had on soldiers. This book is written in Tim’s point of view as he tells other soldier’s stories, as well as his own.
War effects people in multiple ways, some worse than others. “Studies suggest that between twenty and thirty percent of returning veterans suffer, to varying degrees, from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental-health condition triggered by some type of terror, or a traumatic brain injury, which occurs when the brain is jolted so violently that it collides with the inside of the skull, causing psychological damage (Finkel 36).” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the most common form of affect on an individual involved in warfare, whether it is the victim or the perpetrator. In Slaughterhouse-Five written by Kurt Vonnegut, Billy Pilgrim, the main character, is struggling with PTSD looking for a way to justify everything that occurred. This story reflects Kurt Vonnegut’s side effects from his war experience. As well as, explaining how trauma changes an individual’s circumstance in society.
The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow and a winner of six Academy Awards, demonstrated the life of soldiers in and out of war and the lasting effects that combat has on their lives. Jeremy Renner, in the role of Sergeant William James, plays the lead character in the film followed by supporting actors, Anthony Mackie as Sergeant Sanborn, and Brian Geraghy as Specialist Eldridge. With increased threats of terrorist’s attacks in the Twenty First Century, the ideas discussed in this paper are representative of the growing need to understand the psychological effects war has on soldiers. The review of the film, The Hurt Locker along with war-related literature focuses on war as a form of addiction, and analyzes how the brutality of war disrupts the lives of individuals on both sides of the social conflict.
Having to experience the endeavors of Vietnam War is more trauma than man can handle. In the book The things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien that narrator is a scared man who has to go against his beliefs and experience unspeakable events. Events so unspeakable that he indeed makes up parts of the story to help himself mend the past and present. The men carried more than physical weight they carried emotional, and psychological weight. The past and the present is a very long time, but when the past continues to linger in the present it makes the present unbearable to face. In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien , O’Brien explores the importance of storytelling as a means to preserve the individual to cope with a traumatic
War is no child 's play, but unfortunately, we have had times in our past when the youth of our great nation had to defend it. Combat is not an easy for anyone; watching death, the constant ring of gunfire, the homesickness, fearing for your life, and witnessing bloodshed daily, this will begin to take its toll. The minds threshold for brutality can only handle so much and eventually will become sickened by these events. This sickness is called Post-traumatic stress disorder. As shown through the characters of The Things They Carried, soldiers of war may begin to show PTSD symptoms before the war is over, and may continue to fight the disorder after the war has ended.
...ust deal with similar pains. Through the authors of these stories, we gain a better sense of what soldiers go through and the connection war has on the psyche of these men. While it is true, and known, that the Vietnam War was bloody and many soldiers died in vain, it is often forgotten what occurred to those who returned home. We overlook what became of those men and of the pain they, and their families, were left coping with. Some were left with physical scars, a constant reminder of a horrible time in their lives, while some were left with emotional, and mental, scarring. The universal fact found in all soldiers is the dramatic transformation they all undergo. No longer do any of these men have a chance to create their own identity, or continue with the aspirations they once held as young men. They become, and will forever be, soldiers of the Vietnam War.
Bracken, Patrick and Celia Petty (editors). Rethinking the Trauma of War. New York, NY: Save the Children Fund, Free Association Books, Ltd, 1998.
Not many people in society can empathize with those who have been in a war and have experienced war firsthand. Society is unaware that many individuals are taken away from their families to risk their lives serving in the war. Because of this, families are left to wonder if they will ever get to see their sons and daughters again. In a war, young men are taken away from their loved ones without a promise that they will get to see them again. The survivors come back with frightening memories of their traumatic experiences. Although some would argue that war affects families the most, Tim O’Brien and Kenneth W. Bagby are able to convey the idea that war can negatively impact one’s self by causing this person long lasting emotional damage.
People look at war scenes as being like a dollhouse you can just reach in a clean up real fast. It’s like you want to make all the bad things go away, like a bad dream. The author wants us to realize that it is much more than that it doesn’t just go away when you want it to. Like for instance, “just the broken furniture in the street, a shoe among the cinder blocks, a light snow falling” (26-28). These streets are where his home was, now they are covered in the remains of what was his home, and the air is covered in the ashes from the bombing. In life you don’t just get to reach inside the dollhouse and pick up the fallen piece, it’s