Preview

The Ambush Tim Obrien Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
212 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Ambush Tim Obrien Analysis
I Believe, that in the short story the Ambush the Author Tim Obrien is struggling with the after effects of war. Much like many of our veterans who have come home from war.
In the story the character keeps having flash backs to a traumatic event that happened to him during the war. In the vivid way he is telling the story it would seem he is reliving it over and over. Our veterans come home and suffer in silent shame. We owe it to them to bring more public awareness to this traumatic disorder. It is our responsibility as a nation to help these men and women acclimate back into civilian life. An estimated 5,000 veterans die by suicide every year due to PTSD. Two out of three military marriages fail after the return of the soldier from deployment.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    For years our country has been going through life dealing with issues and problems. Some things just disappeared and no longer were issues, others had to be dealt with, and some are still a problem. War is one thing for centuries we have had to deal with and resolve, many of us worry about the people in the military and how their lives are in jeopardy. We always think that getting shot or blown-up is the worse way to die and basically the only way to die. We lack the knowledge and realization that many in the military suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). This has cost many soldiers there life during active duty and even long after the war. Our military has been denying and is un-willing to look at the fact that suicide in the military is sky rocketing, it is a climbing statistic. Why do they deny this? Is it because our government and military are worried that young recruits will refuse to join due to the training they receive will never prepare them for what they see in war? There could be many reasons, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the rate of suicide just keeps getting higher and higher in the military. The average civilian suicide rate compared to the average military suicide rate isn’t even close anymore and will…

    • 1804 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story in which he talks about his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam. The idea it gives you of why the story is named like that is quite literal. O’Brien talks mainly about what they carried and brought home after the war like their ‘post traumatic stress disorder’, all the memories of guilt and fear, and some other physical objects like matches, morphines, rifles, and candy. For example, when Tim O’Brien goes on telling two stories, “The Man I Killed” and “Ambush”he talks about the guilt he now carries after killing a man. He goes on imagining the life that this victim had form childhood to how his life would’ve been if O’Brien would’t have killed him with a grenade.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    According to statistics quoted by Chuck Mosely in “The Invisible Scars of War”, an article dealing with PTSD and it effects on over 1.7 million veterans, roughly 50% of all Vietnam veterans suffered from PTSD for their entire life. In the article, the trauma that veterans suffered is compared to that of the African American slaves. The writer states that “[f]or nearly twenty years I denied the effects of my Vietnam experience.” For twenty years this man who was willing to sacrifice it all for his country had to suffer alone. For twenty years he was living in denial. For twenty years he carried this burden alone. It wasn’t until after this third divorce that he finally decided to seek professional help. This should never be the case. From day one he should have been aware of the effects that war was going to have on him. From day one he should have know that there was countless others going to suffer the same mental disorders and depression that he was going to. From day one he should have known exactly where to receive help the moment he needed it. The VA can offer all the help it wants, but if the soldier himself is in denial about what he is going through, the help will never reach him. That’s why raising awareness is so important. That’s why they needs to understand what PTSD is and how it can, and for the most part will, affect them. That’s that first step in getting these heroes what they needs and most importantly, saving…

    • 1897 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    PTSD And Iraq Summary

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The RAND report also found that only about half of those affected had sought help, and out of those that did seek help about half of them received “minimally adequate treatment”. It is estimated that the cost of treating every one of the 300,000 PTSD cases is about $660 billion. PTSD is also linked to the doubling of the suicide rate of the personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fighting a war is pretty traumatizing experiences that can ever happened to everyone, it does not only destroy a lot of things, but also affects the people who take part in it. It is said that when a man returns home from war he is forever changed. The short story 'The Red Convertible' by Louise Erdrich depicts the story of two Native American brothers, Lyman and his older brother Henry narrated by Lyman, it starts with Lyman has received a large insurance check after a tornado destroyed his restaurant, two brother used that money to purchase an old convertible car tougher and decide to have a road trip crossing all around the country. They spend really good time during the summer, soon enough when they roll back to their reservation it turns…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “No soldier ever really survives a war” These are the words of Audie Murphy, he was a notable American combat soldier in the U.S army during World War II. War is unmerciful on the body and additionally to the mind and spirit. You set off to war to fight for your country and be a hero, however, when you come back, your perspective on life has been completely changed. Either you die in action or you live to tell your story. The truth of the matter is; if you have been in battle, you will always have effects haunting you at night. Those horrible memories that you saw and lived through on the battlefield will continuously come back. You live every day with the thought of being a murderer. Throughout the novel Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, war has a vast impact on Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese man living on San Piedro Island.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is estimated that 806,964 U.S. Army soldiers have served in Iraq, including 146,655 Army National Guard and 74,461 Army Reserve. Military doctors estimate that 20 percent of soldiers and 42 percent of reservists have returned from Iraq with some kind of psychological problem. According to the National Public Radio, “A study in The Journal of the American Medical Association says the invisible injuries plaguing soldiers returning from war in Iraq such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or just a sense of ‘not feeling normal’- are common mental health problems, and are most likely to show up several months after a soldier gets home.”…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We see heros everyday without even realizing it. Those heros may not look like they are hurting and some look like they should be on their deathbed. According to the U.S. national library of medicine there are 31% of Vietnam Veterans, 10% of Gulf War (Desert Storm) Veterans, 11% of Afghanistan Veterans, and 20% of the Iraq War Veterans that have PTSD. PTSD is a post-traumatic stress disorder and from having it, usually results to; substance abuse, depression, and other anxiety disorders. There have also been thousands that die and millions that get injured on the frontlines. Just in the Iraq and Afghanistan war there were 6,845 soldiers that died and 900,000 that got injured. There are so many organizations out there that help out veterans in need. Paws for Purple Hearts is a really good one and it is the first program of its kind that offers therapeutic interventions for veterans and active military personnel by teaching those…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some of the veterans have lost limbs when stepping onto booby traps while on duty doing their jobs. So many of our veterans have post traumatic stress disorder that has been caused by horrible military fights, leaving many with mental health issues. Many have even committed suicide because of these issues. For a while now many actors and musicians have been starting foundations to raise money to help our veterans get better.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sgt. Danny Facto, a member of the 10th Mountain Division who served in Afghanistan, told his story on having PTSD. "When I go to [a] group and I talk with guys who are just like me it helps a lot, because I can discuss with guys that have been in combat, guys that have been shot at, guys who have lost friends, guys that have killed other people. When I came back, I was me, but I was different because of my experiences. Mental health and therapy really helps to understand everything I've been through." ( According to a RAND Corp. Research Institute study released on April 17, 2008, about 320,000 of the 1.64 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the U.S. had experienced a traumatic brain injury and about 300,000 suffered from PTSD or depression.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Works Cited

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages

    "One In Five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression." RAND Corporation Provides Objective Research Services and Public Policy Analysis. Rand Corporation, 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.rand.org/news/press/2008/04/17.html>.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The trauma that they have endured is not handled appropriately and the facilities which they need are often not mentioned to them, this leads to problems developing such as; committing suicide and violent crimes, and suffering homelessness, addiction, and mental illness in record numbers. On January 13, the New York Times published the first part in a series of examinations into killings committed in the United States by returned veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Under the title “War Torn,” the series examines 121 cases in which Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had committed or were charged with killings, most of them murder, and many linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and consequent substance abuse and domestic distress. Families or single veterans are left to contend with the mental damage themselves. Overwhelmingly from lower-income working class backgrounds, military families bear multiple burdens in caring for wounded loved ones: psychological difficulties, alienation and lack of social infrastructure, enormous, medical costs, and lost economic livelihoods. With our general economic situation in poor standing – job prospects being impossible to attain, and the cost of living rising – all the difficulties manifest and compound into huge burdens for these veterans. Consequently, domestic disturbances, self-medication and drug dependency, homelessness, and incarceration are becoming more and more…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 2009, two hundred and forty-five service members committed suicide. For the troops who suffer with PTSD, their marriages are failing and two hundred thousand are broken. It is hard to handle someone with PTSD who does not get treatment. Those who do follow up with treatment will receive either therapy or medication (PTSD). Veterans are able to go to the VA for their treatment and whatever help they need. According to The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, forty-six percent of veterans go to the VA for care and of that forty-six percent, forty-eight percent are diagnosed with a mental health issue (PTSD: National Center). They also state some reasons why some veterans will not seek treatment. They include that they fear being seen as weak, concern about being treated differently, they do not believe treatment is effective, they are concerned about privacy, along with several other…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    PTSD Awareness Day

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It is estimated that 22% of solders come back from deployment with PTSD or significant depression, 34% have other significant mental concerns while only 1 out of 3 ever seek help.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Persuasive Speech

    • 909 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Claim of: One out of five veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are diagnosed with PTSD, veteran’s account for 20 percent of U.S suicide.…

    • 909 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics