Vietnam By John Harstad Analysis

Mental disorder: A wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. Psychologists are seen by patients suffering from mental disorders or other reasons that can trigger a disorder. Johan Harstad writes a short story telling the tale of a psychologist that isn’t quite sane himself. The theme throughout the story is irony and fear. Both characters highlighted in the story contain fear of the past that stuck with them into the future. The fear that the female patient faces is known to the reader as “Vietnam.” The male psychologist has an unknown fear, but feels the same lonely panic that the female patient he sees battles each day. The story begins with a tone of hopelessness. As the doctor and patient sit together in the room the time feels as if it has “come to a stop” because the doctor doesn’t believe that the patient can get better. The element of hopelessness and despair corresponds with the mutual lack of encouragement to try to cope with the patient’s trauma from the Vietnam War. When the patient asks the doctor if she will get better he gives a simple answer of “No.” and leaves the subject matter as if it should never be dealt with because the …show more content…
The tone of the next scene opens lightly with simple questions exchanged and the manner escalates when the narrator tells Eliza that he “think[s] about killing [his] sister.” The change in tone lets the audience know early on that something is not mentally stable with the psychologist. The next sign of a mental disorder is where he mentions the green material on one of the chairs beginning to tear. The specific detail shows the author has signs of Obsessive Compulsion Disorder. It seems to be an irrelevant and meaningless detail but it is placed, along with the conversation held with Eliza, with intent to inform the audience that the psychologist is also suffering from a similar mental disorder as the