Madagascar Plum is a short story being told by a soldier from the Viet Cong army. The story is about him killing a young mute girl while he was in the war. The actions he takes prior to telling the story and his setting, explains a lot about how the war affected soldiers. However, I don’t think that his story is very reliable; I will show why in a bit.
The soldier is sitting in a bar, as he tells this gruesome story. What he had done, you could tell, he regretted and how it had affected him. He wasn’t able to start telling the story unless he had a drink or two. He says “my wife nags me that I’m an alcoholic…how can I forget if I don’t have the liquor? (8)” This shows that soldiers, who experience PTSD, turn to alcohol to forget what happened. The alcohol helped him to hide his feelings and not think about what he had done. This also explains, how a lot of veterans become alcoholics or drug addicts, because it’s their way of not having to think about the gruesome things they did during the war. For this veteran, it was a way for him to tell others what happened, however, the alcohol might have affected his story quite a bit. He says “the longer I remained inside, the more I lapsed into a stupor and the foggier I became” (6). I took as “the inside” meaning when he drank, and was able to tell what did during the war. He himself admits that he wasn’t able to tell what really happened when he was drunk. A person’s memory and communication is affected greatly when they are under the influence. This soldier might not be making the story up, but a lot of important parts might be left out because of the alcohol. This is one of the reasons why I don’t believe his story is very reliable.
Another example that makes his story unreliable is the symptoms of PTSD that he is experience. The narrator, the soldier, at the beginning of the story says “offer me anything but that fruit, please, I beg you”(1). Even though the fruit is just a fruit, and it’s not going to harm him, it reminds him of the girl’s skin color. This shows how much he is being affected by PTSD. As a result of his PTSD, the narrator, “mutilated his own body” (8). This soldier was able to cut his own leg off because of the stress he is going through, his mind is clearly now thinking rationally. Therefore, anything he tells us, such as the story, cannot be taken as the truth, but simply just a story from one specific person.
The examples above show that this soldiers’ story cannot be taken as reliable. This soldier was under the influence of alcohol, as well as experiencing strong PTSD symptoms; his story might be modified to fit what he perceived happened. His story cannot be taken as truth, but instead just a story that someone might be telling, maybe even as fiction.
“Madagascar Plum” is a short story being told by a soldier from the Viet Cong army. The story is about him killing a young mute girl while he was in the war. The actions he takes prior to telling the story and his setting, explains a lot about how the war affected soldiers. However, I don’t think that his story is very reliable; I will show why in a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe soldier is sitting in a bar, as he tells this gruesome story. What he has done, you could tell, he regrets and how it has affected him. He isn’t able to start telling the story unless he has a drink or two. He says “my wife nags me that I’m an alcoholic…how can I forget if I don’t have the liquor? (8)” This shows that soldiers, who experience PTSD, turn to alcohol to forget what happened. The alcohol helps him hide his feelings and not think about what he has done. This also explains, how a lot of veterans become alcoholics or drug addicts, because it’s their way of not having to think about the gruesome things they did during the war. For this veteran, it is a way for him to tell others what happened, however, the alcohol might have affected his story quite a bit. He says “the longer I remained inside, the more I lapsed into a stupor and the foggier I became” (6). I took “the inside” as meaning when he drinks, and is able to tell what did during the war. He himself admits that he isn’t able to tell what really happened when he was drinks. A person’s memory and the way they communicate information are both affected greatly when he/she is under the influence. This soldier might not be making the story up, but a lot of important parts might be left out because of the alcohol. This is one of the reasons why I don’t believe his story is very reliable.
Another example that makes his story unreliable is the symptoms of PTSD that he is experience. The narrator, the soldier, at the beginning of the story says “offer me anything but that fruit, please, I beg you”(1). Even though the fruit is just a fruit, and it’s not going to harm him, it reminds him of the girl’s skin color. This shows how much he is being affected by PTSD. As a result of his PTSD, the narrator, “mutilated his own body” (8). This soldier was able to cut his own leg off because of the stress he was going through, his mind is clearly not thinking rationally. Therefore, anything he tells us, such as the story, cannot be taken as the truth, but simply just a story from one specific person.
The examples above show that this soldiers’ story is not reliable. This soldier was under the influence of alcohol, as well as experiencing strong PTSD symptoms; his story might be modified to fit what he perceived happened. His story cannot be taken as truth, but instead just a story that someone might be telling, maybe even as fiction.