Loops

O’Brien’s varying techniques in his story telling, to me, reveals what the mind of a veteran could be like who experienced repeated tragedies during his term. Some of the stories seem unconnected, like discussing how Lemon died and then discussing the men on the mountain in Sanders’ story. Then there is repetition, how O’Brien continues to come back to the relationship of Lemon and Kiley and how that relationship tragically and unexpectedly ended. The mind of someone with PTSD does not always function like the mind of someone without this disorder. In speaking to the wife of a Vietnam  War veteran, Mr. P.,  who had PTSD, his mind would sometimes run in loops. Similar to how O’Brien comes back to Lemon and Kiley, this man would tell a story about some dull moment he experienced and then jump to how a friend of his died. Mr. P. would finish this story and then go on to one of a moment of happiness, but once the story was finished, Mr. P. would retell the death of his friend with more detail or would just insert more details where he felt they belonged. I had to assume that this particular event was a defining moment in Mr. P’s life because it was the singular event that he would go to time and time again.

The psychological consequences of war differs from person to person and O’Brien really shows that. O’Brien like, Mr. P., seems to interject stories when the mood strikes, but as far as we know, he is all around stable. Kiley, after the death of his “soulmate” dismembered a baby water buffalo, an act that he probably would not have committed if he had not been in a gruesome war and not watched his friend explode. I would imagine that PTSD would strike Kiley who would deal with the guilt , memory, and loss involving his best friend’s death for the rest of his life. I would imagine that the memories and emotions of the war would haunt him and disturb his life.