Saving Private Ryan Research Paper

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Private Ryan Living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder This paper will examine the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Private James Ryan from the Steven Spielberg’s movie Saving Private Ryan. The events of Saving Private Ryan start with an elderly man visiting a cemetery with his family, and upon coming to a certain gravestone, he collapses to his knee. The film then starts to show a flashback of the events that happened starting June 6th 1944, the invasion of Normandy and the days after it. In the film, the United States received word that three of the four Ryan family were killed in action, and the fourth son, Private James Ryan, was missing in action. This leads to a team being sent out to rescue and send Private Ryan home back home to his mother. Near the end of the film, it is revealed that the elderly man visiting the cemetery is Private James Ryan, and the gravestone that he collapsed in front of is for Captain John H. Miller. Captain Miller was the person who led a squad …show more content…

According to criteria A of the Diagnostic Criteria of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the DSM 5, it states that the person must have been exposed to a traumatic experience directly or a witness of it. This traumatic experience could lead to death, or threatening death or serious injury. Private James Ryan, who was a soldier in World War II, fought in battles where his comrades were killed. When he first met Captain Miller, he personally got news that all his brothers were killed in battle and that he was the last one remaining. During the defense of the bridge, he was under fire by the enemies, who used guns and tanks. Also during that battle, many of his comrades were killed, along with Captain John H. Miller. He watched many of his comrades die, and he thought he was going to be killed himself. This fulfills criteria A of the Diagnostic for Post-Traumatic Stress