Today's Date:
December 16, 2024

Non-Fiction
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Crossing Borders : An Analysis of Canicula: Snapshots of a Girlhood in La Frontera by Norma Elia Cantu

The book by Norma Elia Cantu, Canicula: Snapshots of a Girlhood in La Frontera is not only a work of fiction about growing up between two countries with drastically different cultures but is also, and perhaps more importantly, a statement on  →

Character Analysis of Jim in Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain : The Anti-Slavery Message

Although there are still several discernable traces of overt racism in the novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author uses characterization to convey an anti-slavery message. One of the most effective ways Twain does this is by  →

Defining The Right Stuff in the Book The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

In the book The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, the concept of the right stuff and what it means, especially during the historical period during which the space race is so broad of a topic that it takes the text  →

Analysis of “the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The title of Gladwell,’s article, “Getting Over It,” alludes to the fundamental premise of his argument, which is that trauma is “often something that people eventually can get over.” To illustrate his point, Gladwell refers to a novel that was published more than fifty years ago, thirty years before the diagnostic category of PTSD was even created (Hersen 62). Gladwell uses The Man in the Gray Flannel suit to render an analysis of the main character, Tom Rath, a veteran of war who has witnessed-and perpetrated-terrible violence, and whose “sometimes things just “happen”” attitude Gladwell misinterprets as healthy adjustment in the wake of dysfunctional experiences. Gladwell further supports his argument by picking selectively from the conflicting research that has been conducted on the subject of the emotional aftermath of trauma, and concludes that our “time and culture” lack the “confidence and wisdom to understand” what he considers to be the truth: that trauma is not so traumatic after all, especially over the long term. In short, the main thrust of Gladwell’s argument is that we do not devote enough time to the process of grieving or of getting over painful or traumatic events. Yet using the same novel that Gladwell introduces, and considering it against what is now known about PTSD, Tom Rath can hardly be considered a person who has integrated and processed his trauma and moved on. Does the reader really believe, though, the novel’s narrator when he says, “The fact that [Tom] …had killed Mahoney, the fact that some young sailors had wanted skulls for souvenirs, and the fact that a few hundred men had lost their lives…all these facts were simply incomprehensible and had to be forgotten”? Does Gladwell really believe this? Gladwell is quick to dismiss the idea that Tom is in denial about the impact of his trauma, but he does not offer a convincing argument to the contrary. Gladwell simply glosses over some of the most important characteristic diagnostic criteria of PTSD and avoids identifying whether any of these symptoms are experienced by Tom, so desperate is he to prove his point. He focuses on the aspects of PTSD in which sufferers relive their trauma, while neglecting to consider other symptoms, which include avoidance and emotional numbing (Hersen 61). Gladwell also fails to return to a consideration of an important detail that he introduces in the beginning of his article, and that is the fact that Tom seems to have a particular dependence on alcohol, which is also often associated with PTSD, primarily as a means of escaping symptoms. Gladwell occupies one pole on the spectrum of belief about PTSD. He simply suggests that most people can, and therefore should, just “get over it,” it being the trauma. Gladwell advocates a pick-yourself-up-prescription for trauma. Certainly, there are merits in his argument. Most people are, as he contends, resilient and able to cope with far more stress than they believe possible. However, his argument lacks complexity and the consideration of a number of other crucial factors. It is particularly striking that he chooses to construct his argument around a fifty year old novel, rather than the current war that is clearly sending many soldiers home with profound trauma that will, in all probability, mark them for life. His preference for fiction obviates real life, where trauma and its effects are much more diffuse and difficult to grasp than they are in the world of fiction. “Somehow… our understanding of what it means to experience a traumatic event has changed,” he writes. He is correct, but he does not analyze how and why our understanding of trauma has changed.  →

Analysis and Summary of “Principles of Political Economy” by John Stuart Mill

The author of “Principles of Political Economy” and other important works on economics, John Stuart Mill was one of the most noted philosophers and political thinkers of the 19th century.  He was a staunch advocate of the philosophy of utilitarianism, which  →

Analysis and Summary of “Life in Prison” by Stanley “Tookie” Williams

   Much of Stanley “Tookie” Williams’ book, “Life in Prison” is committed to warning young people about the unglamorous life that will await them in prison. In order to achieve his goal of dissuading young people from thinking about prison as  →

Feared Versus Loved: An Analysis of The Prince by Machiavelli

In The Prince, Machiavelli sets forth several guidelines and a summary of behavior for a ruler and establishes that, “It is best to be both feared and loved, however, if one cannot be both it is better to be feared  →

Violence, Fear, and Glory in The Prince by Machiavelli

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, the author discusses the path to effective leadership through a combination of cunning, controlled violence, balance of the respect and fear of subjects, and other routes to maintaining power. One of the most striking features of  →

Review & Summary of “Path to Power : The Years of Lyndon Johnson v.1”

In this first volume of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s biography, historian Robert A. Caro explains Johnson’s trajectory that led him to the highest office of executive power in the United States. “The Path to Power : The Years of Lyndon  →

Review and Summary of “The Trojan War: A New History” by Barry Strauss

In his recently published book, “The Trojan War: A New History”, author and historian Barry Strauss takes a subject that has been written about extensively, both in history books and in literary narratives, and attempts to breathe new life into  →