Traumatized Soldiers Re-adjusting to Family Life:
The Impact of the War Experience on Veterans in “Stones” and “The Shannon”
Canada has a long history of fighting in many wars and has had many distinguished war veterans. However, many of these war veterans were affected by post-war trauma. Timothy Findley in his short story “Stones” explores the impact of the Second World War on the Max family, when David Max, the father returns back from his military service in 1943. A similar short story by David Adams Richards “The Shannon,” considers how the dynamics of family change when a father returns after fighting in the Korean War in 1951 with a head injury. These two stories concentrate on the impact that the war had on both the veterans and their …show more content…
The father drinks “Napoleon wine” whenever he has blinding headaches and refuses to eat food. His older son worries about his dad’s health and brings him food. The father relies on the older son to take care of the family when he becomes violent due to his frustration. The older son “hid [his family] in a special place when his dad was angry” and knows that his father’s anger is “not necessarily directed at the [family]” (Gvolvski and Lyons 482). As such, the older son supports the father as he knows that his father “is a good man.” The circumstances of the father not being able to work forces him to rely on the older son to provide for the family. The father feels helpless that his family is “reduced to eating lobster” and “putting cardboard over the windows.” He whispers his request to his son, “I can’t go tonight,” as he feels ashamed to ask for his son’s help. However, the son dutifully supports the family. The father copes with his head injury and war trauma through alcohol and the support of his older …show more content…
Findley in “Stones” explains David’s noble intentions to join the Canadian army. The “reason for [David’s] enlistment” before the war had even started was to prevent the enlistment of his sons, Cy and Ben. David wishes to protect his sons from the traumatic experience of the war. Though David had not yet experienced post-war trauma he still wished to spare his sons from this experience. David also protects his family from himself especially after he almost killed his wife in a fit of anger using a hammer. He turns himself to the police as “he had come to his senses” and chooses to go to the Insane Asylum so that his family can be safe from him. When David is released from the asylum, he chooses not to return to his family because he did not wish to inflict more pain and stress on the family. David is afraid that he will unintentionally become violent and cause pain (Kessler 10). David chooses to spend the rest of his life away from his family to protect them from himself and his
The Impact of the War Experience on Veterans in “Stones” and “The Shannon”
Canada has a long history of fighting in many wars and has had many distinguished war veterans. However, many of these war veterans were affected by post-war trauma. Timothy Findley in his short story “Stones” explores the impact of the Second World War on the Max family, when David Max, the father returns back from his military service in 1943. A similar short story by David Adams Richards “The Shannon,” considers how the dynamics of family change when a father returns after fighting in the Korean War in 1951 with a head injury. These two stories concentrate on the impact that the war had on both the veterans and their …show more content…
The father drinks “Napoleon wine” whenever he has blinding headaches and refuses to eat food. His older son worries about his dad’s health and brings him food. The father relies on the older son to take care of the family when he becomes violent due to his frustration. The older son “hid [his family] in a special place when his dad was angry” and knows that his father’s anger is “not necessarily directed at the [family]” (Gvolvski and Lyons 482). As such, the older son supports the father as he knows that his father “is a good man.” The circumstances of the father not being able to work forces him to rely on the older son to provide for the family. The father feels helpless that his family is “reduced to eating lobster” and “putting cardboard over the windows.” He whispers his request to his son, “I can’t go tonight,” as he feels ashamed to ask for his son’s help. However, the son dutifully supports the family. The father copes with his head injury and war trauma through alcohol and the support of his older …show more content…
Findley in “Stones” explains David’s noble intentions to join the Canadian army. The “reason for [David’s] enlistment” before the war had even started was to prevent the enlistment of his sons, Cy and Ben. David wishes to protect his sons from the traumatic experience of the war. Though David had not yet experienced post-war trauma he still wished to spare his sons from this experience. David also protects his family from himself especially after he almost killed his wife in a fit of anger using a hammer. He turns himself to the police as “he had come to his senses” and chooses to go to the Insane Asylum so that his family can be safe from him. When David is released from the asylum, he chooses not to return to his family because he did not wish to inflict more pain and stress on the family. David is afraid that he will unintentionally become violent and cause pain (Kessler 10). David chooses to spend the rest of his life away from his family to protect them from himself and his