The Truth About War

  Several times throughout the text, O'Brien "re-tells"the story of Curt Lemon in many different ways. It almost seems as if he can't remember the every exact moment that lead up to Lemon's death or he can't remember the story correctly and he's trying so hard to remember that he keeps coming up with these different recollections of Lemon's death that may or may not be true or may even be somewhat true. This is similar to two of PTSD's symptoms; memory loss and trouble concentrating. O'Brien's memory loss from Lemon's death seems to be clouding his thoughts of what actually happened to Lemon. He stays consistent with some things, like going to the mountains and watching Lemon step from the shade into the sunlight, yet each time he has to think twice to himself if what he is describing is true/ if it is what actually happened to Lemon that day.

Through the repetition of Lemon's story, one can see how much O'Brien relives this moment. This is further displayed when O'Brien explains that even after 20 years, he can still see the sunlight on Lemons's face. 20 years of reliving the same traumatic event definitely shows a sign of PTSD and shows how much the war effected and still affects O'Brien 20 years later. 

Several times throughout the explanation of Lemon's story, O'Brien explains the beauty of Lemon's shining face in the sunlight. This may be another symptom of PTSD. Usually people who suffer from PTSD attempt to try to distance themselves from the actual event and try to make it seem prettier, especially when he has to relive it. It may help O'Brien cope with the event better by focusing on something different than Lemon's body actually exploding in the sunlight.

These different ways of explaining and thinking about Lemon's death show the repercussions of war and the signs of PTSD. O'Brien is very contradictory. It's almost like he's so confused and shocked from war(even 20 years later) that not only does he not know what the truth is, but he also does not even know what war is. One minute O'Brien talks about the beauty of war, the next minute he's telling a gruesome story about a man who may or may not have killed a baby buffalo. After reading this story, I can definitely tell that O'Brien has symptoms of PTSD and it really shows in his writing.
Link to PTSD Documentary