One issue you see a lot throughout Vietnam war literature in particular is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has popped up in some form or another in almost all of our Vietnam war literature readings.
In In Country, it takes the form of Emmett Smith, Sam's uncle. Emmett has been affected very deeply by Vietnam, but keeps it to himself most of the time. One instance where his PTSD shows up is during a thunderstorm. "Then a loud thunderclap made the light flicker. Emmett suddenly bent over and clutched his chest..... Thunder crashed again, and Emmett cringed" (31). The sound of the thunder took Emmett back to Vietnam. He could no longer recognize the living room, with the couch and the TV. All he saw was jungle and endless fields of rice paddies. He could no longer recognize his niece and her boyfriend. All he saw was the faces of his comrades as they fought through the dreary night. The sound of thunder affects him in such a way that he loses all of his senses, forgetting where he is, and he relives Vietnam.
Another form of PTSD comes in the form of changes of character. For instance, in "The Red Convertible," Henry comes home from the Vietnam completely changed. "When he came home, though, Henry was very different, and I'll say this: the change was no good. You could hardly expect him to change for the better, I know. But he was quiet, so quiet, and never comfortable sitting still anywhere but always up and moving around" (Erdrich).
Restlessness seems to be a common attribute for the Vietnam veterans. Henry can never sit still (Erdrich), Emmett refuses to settle down and get a job (Mason 45), and Norman Bowlker continues to drive in circles around the lake (O'Brien 137).
All of these stories show that Vietnam had a huge impact on the people involved and it still continues to do so. The most we can do is to learn about what they went through and try to understand.
This is a really amazing site that gives a brief summary leading up to the Vietnam War and then gives a tour of the Vietnam War by pictures. Each picture has a caption and a brief summary. If you have time, I sincerely recommend you look at this. This is also where I found the picture that goes along with my blog post.
4 comments:
I definitely agree that PTSD is something that is essential to understanding the Vietnam war. It is also an extremely important part of literature about the war because of its powerful imagery. People hurting their loved ones and waving guns around is one way the author can say "something is seriously wrong here."
Since you picked on my major I get to pick on yours... As an English major, which story about PTSD do you feel had the most powerful effect on you as the reader?
I think that PTSD IS something that is essential in understanding the Vietnam, but more so than that, the way in which soldiers acted upon their return home to the United States. "In Country" is a perfect example of how differently people deal with their problems when they come home. Emmett for example does not have a job and just does things around the house. Earl on the other hand prides himself about getting over the war and having a stable job. I think that the issue of PTSD is such difficult thing to understand, that only through stories, such as in this book, can people understand how people are truly affected by it.
I really feel that "The Red Convertible" had the most powerful effect on me. Part of it was that the story ended in his death, which is always a shock to any reader once you've gotten to know a certain character and have an emotional attachment to them. I feel it also accurately described the effect of television on Vietnam War veterans and the United States as a whole, with the ability to see the war happen in front of them.
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