Summary Of Chickamauga By Ambrose Bierce

Improved Essays
The short stories “Chickamauga” written by Ambrose Bierce and “The Covenant” written by Crystal Arbogast both show the effects that post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) has on someone. The effect war has on someone is very traumatic it can mentally and physically scar a person, but what can be harder is when your a child having to deal with someone who has been through war trying to live with it. PTSD effects family, sleeping patterns, causes small bursts of spaz attacks, and detachment issues. Throughout the stories, the main themes relate to helplessness, loss, and death. These three things share the characteristic that PTSD has on the psyche of a soldiers mind and how they no longer can handle being apart of society and so they seclude …show more content…
The covenant uses imagery and symbolism to vividly paint an image of a man who has been broken by his best friends death. When soldiers go to war they make promises to come back they take a photo of loved ones so they can look at what they're fighting for. These people, friends, and promises are the few things giving them hope in a gloomy place filled with death. The story covenant portrays this scene throughout the story, but only truly understand how deeply these promises mean after one has been kept by a friend, “The words rolled over in Eddie's head. Promises. The entire beach was filled with broken promises, yet Vince had managed to keep his. The cigarette slipped through his fingers into the sand.” (Arbogast 4.3) the imagery of Eddie staring over a beach holding a cigarette running the image of his best friend dying over and over trying to comprehend that he will never see him again. Now he has to bear with telling his sister. this feeling going through his mind anxiety, and sadness. He drops the cigarette symbolizing his brokenness and loss of hope. To him, everything just slipped through his fingers, now as his best friend’s body lays there adding to the already darkened red blood-soaked sand. Death is an everyday thing but when people are not prepared for it then that can become a traumatic event that will always playback thinking it could’ve been prevented. people dying on the battlefront and sounds of pain and agony all around losing hope and feeling helpless. This feeling is all but too common in war and it is all you see during and after it ends. “The glory of war was all around. Blood stained the sand, and the ongoing explosions of battle sounded in the distance. For now, though, the moans and crying of men filled the air.” (Arbogast 4.1) The screaming of pain, crying, and

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Essay On PTSD In Veterans

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Despite this relatively recent acceptance by the psychiatric community, the notion of traumatic stress has been discussed in the context of military service as far back as the writings of the Ancient Greeks (Shay, 2002). PTSD is still in the process of becoming more appropriately diagnosed and discussed as a serious problem among all military personnel and veterans. The term “post-traumatic sress disorder” was coined in the late 1970’s after the Vietnam War. Another form of PTSD that is frequently experienced by veterans is known as “survivals guilt” (Smith, 2015). This occurs when a veteran returns from active duty and feels guilty that that they had survived while others did…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The effects of World War I were felt worldwide during 1914 to 1918. It did not only affect the countries that were participating in it; it also affected those who were not. Erich Maria Remarque crafts an excellent account of World War I in All Quiet on the Western Front, in which the brutality of the war when it was being fought is portrayed through Paul Baumer, a soldier’s, eyes. The high casualty and death rate of young German soldiers and the negative impact of the war on the German society contributed to the changing views of the War for soldiers in combat because it gave them a new perspective on the way they saw their future and the world. Paul and his friends had a different opinion of the war after they saw what destruction…

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    osttraumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD or Posttraumatic syndrome, is a disease that affects individuals who have been exposed to different types of trauma, and more specifically, soldiers and veterans who have been exposed to war. According to the Wounded Warrior Project, “as of September 1, 2015, 400,000 military personnel are dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder, and unfortunately, more women will be exposed than men”, (woundedwarriorproject.org). Many of today’s veterans and current soldiers experience the disorder. “ About 52% of American soldiers from the war in Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the war in Afghanistan”, (National Institutes of Health Plus magazine), combined, suffer from PTSD. Symptoms of PTSD include, flash…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One of the biggest things to worry about when a solider comes home from war is the symptoms or challenges they maybe face while being home. They might experience things similar to what happen back in the war and might lash out or go into a depression, this stage maybe be due to a disorder they might bring back from when they were in the war and this it is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that 's triggered by a terrifying event either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event (MayoClinic). Many types of soldiers showed these symptoms after they got back from the war especially…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Even today people that served deal with not only physical effects, but many psychological effects as well. During the war they’re exposed to pain, grief, hatred, fear, stress, confusion, and anxiety. Today, many of them have symptoms such as; PTSD, anxiety, depression, temper problems, and many other things. As you can see, even though The Things They Carried is a piece of fiction, there is a lot of nonfiction elements to it. There is a lot of emotion from the soldiers during and after the war.…

    • 1371 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Veterans Returning Home “Sixty-one percent of men and 51% of women in the general population report having experienced at least one traumatic experience that qualifies to be considered for PTSD”(Kilic 409).Soldiers go to war to fight for America’s freedom and protect the citizens of America; however, many of their lives change while at war, and they are seeking treatment. Many soldiers get psychological help and many professionals are trying to find different ways to treat the soldiers’ suffering. Upon returning home, soldiers have a hard time assimilating back into civilian life. In Homer’s epic poem…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Thesis Statement For PTSD

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Thesis Statement: PTSD can be caused by going through a traumatic, life-changing event and can result in reliving the experience, not communicating with those around you, being on edge due to the “stressors” of life, one’s way of thinking to be molded based on the experience, or even physical damage to one’s body. Bassett, Deborah, Dedra Buchwald, Spero Manson. “Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Symptoms among American Indians and Alaskan Natives: A Review of the Literature.” Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology. Vol.…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Truth Lies Within The Story When faced with trauma, every individual reacts differently and chooses to express their emotions distinctly. This is especially evident in soldiers and how they deal with loss during wartime situations. In his novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien explores different coping mechanisms for those in traumatic situations. O 'Brien explores the various ways with which soldiers cope with wartime experiences such as through social dependency , through denial and through storytelling in order to deepen one’s understanding the effectiveness of these coping mechanisms. He argues that the only true way to cope is by accepting the reality of the situation one is facing.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    After having to commit horrendous atrocities that establish life-long trauma, many of these veterans already antagonise themselves for what they have done for the sake of their country. One of the ways that PTSD takes hold of the human…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is “a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening experience”. (Department of Veterans Affairs) Tim O’brien and Louise Edrich want to show the psychological and social damaging effects of war as can be seen in Lt. Cross and Henry in "The Things They Carried" and "The Red Convertible". Some of the signs someone who might be suffering from PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares, hypersensitivity among others from the traumatic experience. It is important to know how to recognize the symptoms of someone who suffers with PTSD.…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Shell Shock

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During the 20th Century, war became a condition of existence for both soldiers and civilians partly because, this condition, PTSD/Shell Shock was spreading. What was thought to be a physical and mental issue and is now known as a psychological condition. Although society today has come much farther than when in World War One or Two, it was a slow road getting to how society views it now. The social stigma against PTSD makes it arduous to treat and slowed the progression of how it’s viewed. The transitions from viewing PTSD as a disciplinary issue and the harsh of types of treatment that followed suit, as well as the failure to recognize this as a psychological malady are some of the causes of this.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    PTSD and shell shock are the brains attempts to cope with trauma and failing to do so. While PTSD in soldiers, the suffering will come up when re-experiencing the trauma they went through in war, when they dream, or when they think or close their…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dedicating individual chapters to different men from the battalion, the section of the book I felt most relatable to the course material would be the story of what happened to Adam Schumann. According to Finkel (2009) Schumann did what very few soldiers could do; he asked for help and was sent back home after experiencing severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as recurring images of “a house that had just been obliterated by gunfire, …watching the vomiting soldier[s],…tasting Sgt. Emory’s blood” (p. 205). According to Meyers (2010), typical symptoms of PTSD include “recurring haunting memories and nightmares, numbed social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and insomnia", many of which troubled Schumann as he couldn’t sleep due to the sights of violence and blood running through his mind (p. 4). While war is something heavily associated with PTSD diagnoses, it is not the only trauma that can cause these symptoms to occur, and a popular issue that Meyers (2010) addressed was that roughly 8.5%…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Emotional Burdens in the Vietnam War and Tim O’Brien Vietnam soldiers during the war carried emotional burdens because of seeing their mates being killed, the constant fear of death and the traumatic events they were involved. The effects persevere in their minds during and after the war causing a lost in personality and PTSD. The author Tim O’Brien dedicated his life writing about the Vietnam War. The author’s personal experiences and the guilt of forming part of a war he opposed, were part of his inspiration for writing about the Vietnam War.…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Chickamauga, Ambrose Bierce’s short story, begins with a little boy adventuring in the woods, pretend playing at war. The story shifts from the playful wanderings of the boy to integrating the actual horrific reality of a nearby battle’s aftermath. Such change does not immediately impact the boy, who continues playing even as the terrifying scene unfolds around him. This passage occurs towards the end of the story, when the child has been fully immersed into the gruesome chaos around him. It begins with “The fire”, identifying the source of the “strange red light” (p. 408) that was introduced a few paragraphs before.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays