Elizabeth Bowen's The Demon Lover

I. Introduction A. Attention Getter – Today, I am going to talk about something that is not talked about enough; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. For those of you who do not know, PTSD is defined by the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs as “a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening event such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood.” (“What is PTSD?”) B. Tie to the Audience – I am sure that there are a few people in this class that have had a family member or friend suffer from PTSD.

This paper explores post-traumatic stress and how it is seen as a disorder. Post-traumatic stress can manifest into post-traumatic stress disorder. The evaluation and review books and articles seem to reveal a relation to these symptoms and military member, either active or non-active veterans. These symptoms do not manifest strictly into the full-extent of the disorder in all cases of military, however, things such as depression and other physical symptoms are discussed through the readings. The end result is that we discovered that through the readings PTSD will in fact lead to suicide if left untreated.

Post-traumatic stress disorder abbreviated PTSD is a response to traumatic events in someone’s life. Traumatic events are events that provoke fear, helplessness or horror in response to a threat or extreme stressor (Yehuda, 2002). Soldiers and other military members are at a much higher risk to Post traumatic stress disorder due to combat and other stressful situations they are put into. People effected by Post-traumatic stress disorder will have symptoms including flashbacks, avoidance of things, people or places that remind them of the traumatic event. Also, hyper arousal which includes insomnia, irritability, impaired concentration and higher startle reactions. In this paper I will discuss post-traumatic stress disorder, its signs, symptom and effects on culture as portrayed in the movie, American Sniper.

He lover was so sure that he would return to her on the day of his departure. When Kathleen says that he is going far away, he replies, ' Not so far as you think.'; If he were going to war, he would not say he was not going far away and would not be certain he was going to make it back. Her lover could have been stationed close by or he could have went AWOL and stalked Kathleen. If the person driving the taxi was Mrs. Kathleen Dover's former lover he must have stalked her or had some else stalk her to know where she was staying. When Mrs. Dover feels a draft from the basement she feels like someone is in the house and just left through a window. The person in the taxi could have already been in the house at the time she had walked in and watched her as she gathered her things. He now knowing she would not be able to carry all he parcels with her went to the taxi to wait for her. If it had been her lover stalking her he would not have stalked her all the time. He would have waited to find a time that Mrs. Dover was alone. Her going to a house with out anyone knowing she was going there would be a perfect opportunity to get Kathleen back for not waiting for him.

World War II is still seen today as one of the most lethal wars in history. As technology advanced, more destructive weapons were created. In the hands of the wrong people and those forced to use them, these weapons paved the way for physical and psychological destruction. Furthermore, the mentality of individuals during this time enabled more marring upon themselves and upon other individuals. Even though what we now refer to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, existed before World War II, this time period brought about a higher prevalence of PTSD, as well as began to change the way this disorder was perceived by people.

War is a problem that seems inevitable. America was founded thanks to a war, yet many Americans such as Michael Herr and William James do not support it. They both wrote essays to show the negative effects of war and to shine a new light on the subject. The essay, “Illumination Rounds” by Michael Herr, was published in The New American Review #7 in 1969. Herr speaks of his experiences in Vietnam and shares the abundant coping methods the soldiers use to deal with PTSD. He asserts that war is not worth all of the negative effects.

Writers often use flashback to emphasize the notion that the past, though forgotten, and to provide important background information about characters in flashbacks that will be useful to the reader. Mrs. Drover has children and is married but, when returning to her to her old house she remembers her long lost fiancé “Her remembrance of him intensifies upon her finding and reading the mysterious letter in the damaged house” (Gardiner-Scott) this makes the reader wonder what else might

When she was nineteen she made a promise to her fiancé, who her mother claimed "was set on her, not in love." A couple months after he left for war he was reported missing and presumed dead. At thirty two she met and married her current husband and had children. Now, it seems that the demon wants his "fiancé" to keep her promise. Bowen may have chosen to give her the last name of Drover, because a drover is someone who herds animals to market and it seems as though her fate will meet the same demise as the demon takes her away. Mrs. Drovers internal conflict occurred when she did not come through on the promise that she made and now, it seem she can not even recall what the promise was. She is faced with an external conflict as well because she will no longer have her family. She is in the hands of a demon. The third person objective point of view forces the reader to conclude for themself what is really happening. We can not hear her thoughts so it is impossible to know if she really remembers this "so-called promise." The two main elements that really work together to make this story felt by the reader are setting and language. The excellent use of literal imagery evokes the readers senses and sends a chilling feeling of suspense and terror down the spine, thus, creating the perfect setting. A sense of uneasiness is created

The article relates to the wide range of situations that can cause PTSD and to how people need to direct their attention toward familiarizing themselves with the disorder's symptoms and seriousness before attempting to deal with it.

The tactics used in World War I were radically different than that of previous wars. The majority of the war was fought in the trenches, and the war itself seemed to have no end. Due to this, the psychological impact of the war was unlike anything that had been seen before. During the early days of the war, the soldiers, on both sides, seemed to lack the dedication that would have been necessary to exterminate their enemy. However, as the war progressed, the desire to avenge their fallen comrades overcame their ethics and they began to kill their enemy indiscriminately. Surviving soldiers experienced a phenomenon that was, at that time, referred to as shell shock. Today we refer to this phenomenon as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At this time, this psychological condition was misunderstood and the doctors lacked the training necessary to effectively treat this condition.

An American machine gunner, Charles Yale Harrison, says in his novel, Generals Die in Bed: “[War] take[s] everything from us: our lives, our blood, our hearts; even the few lousy hours of rest, they take those, too. Our job is to give, and theirs is to take,” (Harrison, 26). In this example, Harrison explains how war is the most selfish and strongest of all evils; war continues to take everything someone has until they have nothing left to take. The war also created long-term effects for soldiers; one being shell-shock. This term is used to describe the damage of constant loud shelling during war which greatly affected those who were not exposed to shelling frequently (Unnamed). Another term that is still used today is PTSD, (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”), which is used to describe the effect war had on the soldiers afterward (Unnamed). World War I brought major psychological disorders upon the soldiers during and after the war had ended leading to great damage for the rest of the victim’s

However, they are similar in the way of both women ending with the ex-lovers in their face. “The driver braked to what was almost a stop, turned round, and slid the glass panel back: The jolt of this flung Mrs. Drover forward till her face was almost into the glass. Mrs. Drover’s mouth hung open for some seconds before she could issue her first scream. After that she continued to scream freely and to beat with her gloved hands on the glass all round as the taxi, accelerating without mercy, made off with her into the hinterland of deserted streets.” (Bowen 1023). This scene by Mrs. Drover exhibits her side of shock that was also shown to the unnamed women in a different way. In both stories the ex lovers are away for enough time that the women moved on. However in the Demon Lover Ballad the wait was seven plus years. "Oh, do not speak of your former vows, for they will breed sad strife; oh, do not speak of your former vows, for I have become a wife"(Ballad 1025). The unknown lady’s shock was portrayed in this quote proving her wait. In conclusion both stories plot twists are significantly different leading to the decisions of both

It was not until the 1980’s that the diagnosis of PTSD as we know it today came to be. However, throughout history people have recognized that exposure to combat situations can have profound negative impact on the mind s and bodies of individuals in these situations. But there are other catastrophic events that can have such profound impact on people resulting in PTSD…

During World War II, it was common for people living in the city of London to flee into the country to avoid the bombings. Mrs. Drover is an example of this, and travels to London by herself

David J. Morris, a Marines veteran, and the author of The Evil Hours, states that over the past four decades, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has permeated every corner of our culture. Morris states a species of pain that that went unnamed for most of human history, PTSD is now the fourth most common psychiatric