Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Yellow Birds

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

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

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