ipl-logo

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Yellow Birds

1005 Words5 Pages

The United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs estimates that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder effects 20% of Iraqi War Veterans. The Yellow Birds is a war novel based in fictional Al Tafar, Iraq. It follows the stories of the two young men, 18 year old Private Daniel Murphy and 21 year old Private John Bartle, through their turmoil before and after being deployed. At one point in the novel, Private Murphy becomes intrigued with a medic serving their squadron. This medic represents home for Private Murphy. Firstly, their squadron’s Sergeant Sterling states that the soldier’s mind is at home. Secondly, Private Bartle believes Private Murphy is using the medic as a replacement for the dullness of being homesick. Finally, when the medic is killed …show more content…

At one point in the novel, Sergeant Sterling tells Private Bartle, “Murph is home, Bartle. And he’s gonna be there with a flag shoved up his ass before you know it” (Powers, 156). Sergeant Sterling did not mean Private Murphy was literally home, but rather figuratively. His mind is focused on one thing at the moment; the young medic, which is fairly significant. This means that Sergeant Sterling is referring to the medic when he states that Private Murphy’s mind is “at home”. He also tells Private Bartle that “if you get back to the States in your head before your ass is there too, then you are a fucking dead man” (Powers, 156). Private Murphy is so engrossed with the medic, or the feeling of “home”, that it eventually leads to his untimely demise in chapter ten. Sergeant Sterling’s words prove that Private Murphy is largely enamoured by the medic because he is obsessed with the idea of being “home”. The medic represents that ideal of his home back in …show more content…

The motive being, in Private Bartle’s words, “he wanted to have one memory he’d made of his own volition to balance out the shattered remnants of everything he hadn’t asked for” (Powers, 165). Private Bartle explains that Private Murphy wants good memories to balance out the bad memories of war. He wants something to remind him of home, and this medic could remind him of his old girlfriend back home. Private Bartle adds, “He wanted to choose. He wanted to want. He wanted to replace the fullness growing inside of him with anything else. (Powers, 165). Private Murphy looks to the medic to provide him with the kindness, happiness, and compassion that Iraq is lacking. All of these feelings remind him of his home. Private Murphy is feeling homesick to the point where it could cause his own death. In Iraq, there is no mercy. No one can provide him with the happiness that his family back in Virginia can. Private Murphy is just another soldier in Iraq; however, in Virginia, he is considered a war hero. He is not important, nor does anyone care about him in Al Tafar. Therefore, he looks to the medic to provide a feeling of home that Iraq is not able

Show More
Related
1422 Words | 6 Pages

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien falls into the new historism category based on the different forms of discourse. For example, O’Brien often writes about the various soldiers of Alpha company and the various things they carried them in addition to why they carried them. This provides a helpful insight because we are able to see the differences of this squad of men, whether it is their height, build or religious preferences, the things they carry are all a piece of that individuals character. Although this story was produced in 1990 it calls on the experiences of the author and the validity of his experiences.

Read More
532 Words | 3 Pages

According to the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study it is estimated that about 30 out of 100 Vietnam Soldiers experience post-traumatic stress disorder. In which they experience helplessness, frightening thoughts, traumatic flashbacks, and mental damage. The “red convertible” (Erdrich 39) that two brothers Henry and Lyman purchase together is very symbolic of Henrys struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder as he returns from the Vietnam War. Louie Erdrich symbols throughout the story demonstrates the changes of ones state of mind before and after war.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.

Read More
306 Words | 2 Pages

A soldier dreaded being on the battlefield more than being in the field hospital, right…? Field hospitals were usually very, very crowded. There were never enough beds for everybody and people that couldn’t get a bed were laid outside of the hospital on the ground. Doctors were always overworked and went to the soldiers who needed the most help first. So, if you had a broken bone, chances are you would be stuck waiting for hours and maybe even days.

Read More
2117 Words | 9 Pages

Learning and Impressions. Throughout my research and interviews for this paper I have learned so much. I never understood the history of PTSD and how it became a part of the DSM V. It scares me a bit that it wasn’t a diagnosis is written off as a norm until the 80’s. When reading about PTSD in The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford, I learned that sometimes you couldn’t trust everything being told to you from someone who just left a war zone.

Read More
1684 Words | 7 Pages

When Lyman was looking at the picture it dawned on him, unlike the car, Henry cannot be repaired. The dark truth behind the mental image of Henry’s brother shows that his soul did not return back from Vietnam. Lyman’s avoidance of the photograph shows the murkiness behind the photograph. His detail of the photograph creates a mental image of Henry’s suffering and distance from reality he could never overcome. He hides this photograph in his closet because he would never get to understand what his brother went through while being imprisoned.

Read More
1024 Words | 5 Pages

A Red Convertible with Many Meanings Throughout the course of a given year, approximately 5.2 million people are affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nearly 7.8% of the United States population will experience PTSD in their lifetime, and 3.6% of adults ages eighteen to fifty-four will experience PTSD (“What is PTSD?”). Henry is one of these people. Using symbolism and foreshadowing within the story, “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich portrays a few motifs throughout the story and these include the bond of brotherhood, sacrifice, and the effects of war.

Read More
1625 Words | 7 Pages

“An estimated 8% of Americans − 24.4 million people − have PTSD at any given time. That is equal to the total population of Texas” (PTSD United 1). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has existed since the dawn of time, but only in the past 50 years has it been recognized as an actual problem. However, even now, it is still not always acknowledged as a legitimate condition. As a result, it is not always properly treated.

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

Jamie Hobbs Ms. Birkhead 20th Century Literature A233 29 September 2015 Comparison/Contrast of The Harold Krebs and the Narrator In the early 20th century no one had any great understanding of a psychological illness and the outcome was the suffering of many ill patients. "Soldiers Home" takes place right after the war in 1919 and shows how the war can effect a man 's perception on life immensely. "

Read More
1024 Words | 5 Pages

A Red Convertible with Many Meanings Throughout the course of a given year, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder affects approximately 5.2 million people. Nearly 7.8% of the United States population will experience PTSD in their lifetime, in addition 3.6% of adults ages eighteen to fifty-four will experience PTSD (“What is PTSD?”). Henry is one of these people. Using symbolism as well as foreshadowing within the story, “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich portrays a few motifs throughout the story and these include the bond of brotherhood, sacrifice, and the effects of war.

Read More
509 Words | 3 Pages

Many people have different cultures that can result in having many cultural conflicts. In the book Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, the protagonist Koly has many conflicts due to her culture. Some of Koly’s conflicts are that she did not know if she would like her husband, and her Sass left her in the city. The first conflict that I noticed was that Koly did not know if she would like her husband.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

Immaturity, by definition, is emotionally undeveloped; juvenile; childish. When taking the term “younger” into consideration, certain people may come up with different ages where they believe someone is allowed to be immature. Others argue men are the most immature of the bunch, and men may never fully mature, whether out of love for a person they claim as not mature, ever, or out of hate, or disrespect. Since draft men were more commonly in their late teens, they dealt with the horror and tragedy that is war, through immature actions.

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in The Things They Carried During the turbulent times of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men entered the warzone and came face-to-face with unimaginable scenes of death, destruction, and turmoil. While some perished in the dense Asian jungles, others returned to American soil and were forced to confront their lingering combat trauma. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried provides distinct instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and reveals the psychological trauma felt by soldiers in the Vietnam War. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD for short, is the most common mental illness affecting soldiers both on and off the battlefield.

Read More
1020 Words | 5 Pages

The character went to war and proved the soldier, or a military medic in this case, can be useful even without a gun. Desmond saved dozens of

Read More

More about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Yellow Birds

Related Topics

Open Document