Blog 9 CG

Nguyen thi Minh Ngoc's short story is about a former Saigon army officer. He talks about his experiences in the Vietnam War to explain his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The question that comes up while this officer is telling his story is whether or not he is reliable. For two reasons, I say that he is not.

The first reason he is unreliable is his alcoholic tendencies. He seems to rely on alcohol, and that definitely influences his memory and communication. Alcohol is a tool that alot of PTSD affected soldiers use to try to deal with their. The officer says, "The longer I remained inside (presumibly drinking) the more I lapsed into a stupor and the foggier I became." (6). Also, he discusses his relationship with his wife in relation to alcohol when he says "My wife nags me that I'm an alcoholic... How can I forget if I don't have liquor?" (8). It is clear that alcohol is a large part of this man's life and lessens his reliability.

Another factor that plays into his reliability issue are his PTSD symptoms. The officer dwells on the little girl that he killed in the war. He truly believes that the child comes in ghost form and steals food. He does not seem to be rational in his thought process here. The first paragraph of the man is offered a brown-red fruit and his response to this is very telling of his symptoms. He responds "Offer me anything but that fruit, please, I beg of you" (1) because the color of the fruit reminds him of the color of the murdered child's skin. Another sign of the officer's PTSD is when he says "The more we moved on in that direction, the more we admired the small feet of that tiny child running back and forth." (8). The officer is so guilt ridden and stuck on the fact of his actions that it actually changes his perception of reality.

Between the soldier's alcoholism and PTSD symptoms, he becomes tough to rely on for facts. His memory and communication are affected from his alchol abuse, and his reality is changed by the mental effects of his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We cannot rely on him for complete truth because his brain functions in a different way than ours.