Blog Nine- LdT

Although the narrator is often seen as being a drunk, the narrator show how deeply affected the soldiers coming out of the war are living in the new society. In a way, the muteness that the characters in “ The Madagascar Plum” show how the soldiers’ only way of coping with the ordeals was by shutting down emotionally and physically. Due to this accurate portrayal through the narrator in “Madagascar Plum”, the reader is able to understand the reality of a Vietnam Veteran.

It is clear that the Veteran suffers from Post-traumatic stress disorder. The PTSD that this Veteran suffers from is brought up from memories, or events that are happening in his present life. PTSD was not a uncommon occurrence for Vietnam Veterans. The reader first sees signs of PTSD when an officer is offered a Madagascar plum; the officer recounts a memory of a child being blown apart by explosives. Although the PTSD that this officer exhibits is very impairing to himself, he is reliable in terms of showing the awfulness of the war.

Another example of how the narrator can be seen as being reliable is that the narrator is very dependent of alcohol. If this Veteran had actually been to the War and really experienced the war, it would be extremely uncommon for him not to be a heavy drinker. When the Veterans came back from the War, they were numb. The soldiers remain alive, but that they are emotionless from the War. If the narrator were to be telling these stories in a sober state with little emotion, then it would be much harder to believe that what he is saying is true, or even that the emotion he is writing about is an emotion he knows about.

Another example of how the narrator is a reliable narrator is that he seems to be mute. The muteness again is a example of the horridness of the war. The Vietnam War includes experiences, which simply cause the human communication system to shut down or overload to the breaking point. This is not an emotion that many people experience; muteness is not a typical trait that people have. The fact that the narrator is mute shows how atrocious the war really was.