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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In Long Halftime Walk By Billy Lynn

1454 Words6 Pages

War can have serious effects on a person’s mind, emotions, and impact their life style. War veterans tend to suffer from a condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to the fact that they have experienced traumatic events. PTSD is defined as a condition that a person can obtain after being affected by strong traumatic events such a sexual assault or even past war experiences. Billy Lynn who is a character in the book, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain is the main character who has his platoon and him praised right after they return from Iraq. Billy has some events that show that he has PTSD and he doesn’t consider his life to be “normal” anymore. Billy also talks about the death of one of his members, at one point he feels dread in returning to Iraq, and he even describes some side effects of the war. Ben provides a clear …show more content…

This is a condition that is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Billy is subject to these events which in turn make him question what is “normal” to him. He lives his life remembering some of the events that have happened in Iraq. According to Gifford Billy has PTSD due to the events that Billy has experienced in war such as always being on your toes because your life is always in danger and even recalling events such as the death of his friend Shroom. The NDVA state that emotional effects can happen when a person remembers events that they have experienced throughout war and the USDVA describes how being stationed in another country can affect a soldier’s life back at home. Having to live a life where he is constantly being reminded of such events is not a normal way of living his life, and Billy even admits to not knowing what being normal is anymore when his sergeant asks him to think of it as a “normal day in America”. In a sense Billy does not even consider himself to be normal and the way he processes his thought to be

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