Tim O’Brien describes the way that war stories are told and their reliability in his work “How to Tell a True War Story.” As a Vietnam War veteran O’Brien describes the nature of a war front and how people perceive the experiences in the war front differently. In her essay “When I Woke Up Tuesday it Was Friday” Martha Stout discusses regarding self-dissociation from case studies of her patients. Dissociation is the disruption of psychological functioning; trauma is one of the main causes of dissociation. Jean Twenge explains how the younger generation portrays narcissistic behaviors and how media and other factors nurtures narcissistic behavior in the society, in her text “An Army of One: Me.” When there is an extreme level of outside pressure on a person, that individual will try to get rid of that pressure by using any coping technique. A soldier’s war story is like his personal memoir of the story; he tells how he perceived the story instead of what actually happened. In a similar manner, narcissists and dissociated people have different kinds of perception than other people. Narcissists expect more respect from others and think that they deserve more than others. Dissociated people perceive a different reality from others, and they think that their perception is real. The core reason for having different kinds of perception is that people face some experiences in their life that can change or shape their personality. They see the world through these personalities. However, people cannot change their personality for every new experience. Thus, if people face a new world that they never met they will perceive the world in the way their experiences direct them. However if, people’s expectations are not met in the reality of the ...
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...expectations. This will make that person to only focus on satisfying the expectation. However, narrowing down the goals just to fulfill the expectation does not give the practical knowledge of the life. It will make people’s life like a machine that works on a particular algorithm. If people face a failure when they progress through their higher expectations they cannot be able to pause for a time and introspect themselves, since they are running in the fast pace expectations they cannot see the reality or even do not have enough time to see the reality. If people have higher expectations they will be reluctant to fail in a process; thus, they will not learn anything carefully. This causes the lack of concentration in the reality. Limiting the expectations will give a clear idea of what is happening in the reality. This will make life more realistic and successful.
Junger 125: Through this quote, Junger gives a realistic wake-up call to the readers. Depression and PTSD rates in soldiers are so high because they come back from war, to a society that is at war with itself. Junger concludes that modern society is completely disconnected from our tribal instincts, this disconnection is what leads to PTSD and other mental disorders. This disconnection is shown through the hostility that civilians in America have towards one another, as well as the many statistics Junger provides on a variety of topics.
It is hard to piece together the beliefs that a Realist person has versus the beliefs of a Transcendentalist has. The book contains both philosophies about them but the book itself portrays more of a Transcendentalist feel to it. The author portrays himself as a Realist, he may be known to write about nature, outdoors, but he has a different outlook. In the book, Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer talks about a young man named Chris McCandless who decides to walk alone into the wilderness in Alaska to invent a new life for himself. He then struggles to make it out on his own and his body is found inside a bus. While both philosophies of Realism and Transcendental exist in Into the Wild, Realism is the real focus for Jon Krakauer.
The reality that shapes individuals as they fight in war can lead to the resentment they have with the world and the tragedies that they had experienced in the past. Veterans are often times overwhelmed with their fears and sensations of their past that commonly disables them to transgress and live beyond the emotions and apprehensions they witness in posttraumatic experiences. This is also seen in everyday lives of people as they too experience traumatic events such as September 11th and the fall of the World Trade Center or simply by regrets of decisions that is made. Ones fears, emotions and disturbances that are embraced through the past are the only result of the unconscious reality of ones future.
Author Tim O’Brien in “How to Tell a True War Story” uses the physical and mental mindset of isolation in the Vietnam war to create a story with many literary devices that makes a captivating story. The author uses point of view, verbal irony, and the character Tim O’Brien to enhance his written experiences of the Vietnam War. This story teaches the reader that experiences that were lived by the reader can be altered by the mind to a certain extent, where they can be questioned as true or not. Perhaps at a sports game or in a heated situation such as a police chase or court case. Tim O’Brien’s experiences have captivated many readers, but are they true? Or just a product of insanity from war? Well, Tim O’Brien leaves that up to the reader to decide.
Most people throughout the world strive for success in each task they take on, and along with this, many reasons contribute to why they succeed or not. If a person does not succeed, they may automatically blame themselves because of their level of strength. Others may blame themselves for not having enough knowledge about what they are trying to succeed at. The real reason that people may not succeed, however, is their lack of determination and happiness throughout his/her journey that is demonstrated in the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
“Intellect had run up against emotion. My conscience told me to run, yet some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war. What it came to, stupidly, was a sense of shame. Hot, stupid shame. I did not want people to think badly of me.” (Tim O’Brien; On the Rainy River).
Many individuals look at soldiers for hope and therefore, add load to them. Those that cannot rationally overcome these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley precisely depicts the critical impact wars have on people in his novel by showing how after-war characters are not what they were at the beginning.
“Narcissistic Personality Disorder.” Cleveland Clinic. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. N.P., 20 May 2005. Web. 19 May 2010.
The book talks about narcissistic personality disorder which is mistakenly regarded as a big ego or inflated self-esteem. The latter entails a big psychological condition that affects negativity in marriages and work environment as the victims own self sense of self. According to the book, the victims have self-confidence and shows arrogant behaviors. This is caused by low-esteem and sense of insecurity. The author has been licensed and has nationally creditably on social work for more than 20 years.
Weisel-Barth, J 2014 ‘Review of “The Stories We Tell”’, International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, Vol.9(2), p.162-166, DOI: 10.1080/15551024.2014.884526
Today, our culture demands us to be perfect, thin, powerful, successful, smart, extraordinary, but when people begin to try achieving them, we start labeling them as narcissists. The problem is that it is impossible for anyone to please everyone. Brown defines narcissism as simply a “fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose” (22). Before giving out labels, it is wise to practice asking ourselves questions to clear the intentions and reasons of someone’s behavior. For example, teenagers posting pictures of themselves online to gain some attention reveals that the culture has taught them that they are as lovable as the number of likes and comments they get on social media. Negative feedback roots into negative thinking about vulnerability and causes them to shut themselves down and never show their real selves again. Encouraging others to believe that they are perfect as themselves, will plant a positive attitude in them and push them to pursue their goals and visions to fulfill their dream of a happy
Imagine facing the horrors of a war at the young age of 19. In the real world as well as fictional novels, the Vietnam War was considered to be a war unlike any other. Many soldiers faced untold brutal challenges, and often wondered who the enemy truly was. In numerous depicted pieces of literature such as Fallen Angels the fictional stories cannot begin to compare to the real traumatic ones. Research has shown that the traumatic circumstances have caused soldiers mental stress. Research shows the brutality that the soldiers of the Vietnam War went through, the novel Fallen Angels and the video series “Dear America: Letters Home” are very similar in this depiction, but also have slight differences.
In Jean Twenge’s novel titled, “Generation Me”, she describes “Generation Me” as a group of self-obsessed, overconfident, assertive, miserable individuals. “Gen-Me” cares about what other people think so much they 'll go to great lengths to “impress” their peers. Self-obsession can be viewed as a sickness of the mind. The average person may be oblivious to the fact that 1 out of 6 people are narcissists. “Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders, one of a group that includes antisocial, dependent, histrionic, avoidant and borderline personalities. But by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless.” - Jefferey Kluger
Robins, R.W., Tracy, J.L., Shaver, P.R. (2001). Shamed into Self-Love: Dynamics, Roots, and Functions of Narcissism. Psychological Inquiry, 12(4), 230-236.
Krents begins his essay by pointing out to the reader that he cannot see himself, and thus, often has to depend upon the viewpoints of others. He states: "To date it has not been narcissistic." The average reader may not be aware that the word "narcissistic" means, "Excessively in love with oneself." It is helpful for the reader to keep this first observation in mind as he continues through the article, and hears Krent’s descriptions of society’s viewpoints.