I am so far enjoying Life After Life, but one reoccurring theme that keeps sticking out to me is the lack of sympathy towards the veterans spoken of in the book. The biggest reason that this has stuck out to me is because I am taking an Anthropology class concerning war and peace and our current unit talks about veterans going through PTSD and specifically how they are affected and thought of in today’s (and the pasts) societies. It is so unfortunate that this crippling psychological disorder was so misunderstood during the early 1900’s (although it still baffles psychologists and anthropologists today as well), but this is something war veterans had to deal with during the time. As Ursula is constantly around either men currently fighting in the war or veterans who have been maimed enough as to where they can’t fight anymore (George Glover, for example), there is an extreme lack of sympathy for those that have served or are currently serving. I do not blame Atkinson for this at all, however. I believe this is how average civilians legitimately felt about veterans during the time, which says something about humanity. Men fighting in the war were seen as killing machines that fought without conscious- which isn’t ever true. While I think it would have been interesting for Atkinson to have dove into PTSD a little more in the story considering the time frame(s), it was hardly mentioned, just as it is hardly mentioned in today’s time concerning war vets. Just a little something to think about. I have attached an article and a documentary for those who are interested in learning more about the minds of veterans- both are extremely interesting and worth looking into.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvNQBwVRe9M