The war destroys the mental state of the soldier The yellow bird by Kevin Power, is a novel that revolves around the main character Bartle, a soldier during the war in Iraq who promises his mother Murph who will bring his son home safely. Throughout the novel, Bartle and Murph are under the control of Sergeant Sterling. Following Sterling's orders, these men are forced to become desensitized to murder. In other words, to survive Al Tafar, they learn to become killing machines, i.e. emotionless monsters. The brutality of war has left them physically and mentally fatigued from mental stress, making them feel in constant danger, which clearly describes post-traumatic stress (PTSD). Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder that can develop after a person has been exposed to traumatic events. Symptoms of PTSD are described as recurring and disturbing flashbacks, avoidance or clouding of memories, and hyperarousal. Yellow Bird's use of the soldiers' characteristics, storytelling method, and imagery work together to show that the cruelty of war leaves a disastrous effect on the soldiers. The soldiers' characteristics reveal that they have developed PTSD, a psychiatric disorder that impairs the soldier's mental state. In March 2005, Bartle left Iraq to return home to his mother. He walks the streets of Germany and when he reaches a roundabout he decides to take a taxi to K-Town. While sitting in the taxi, he looks at the trees lining the road. “[his] muscles tensed…[his] fingers closed around a wire that wasn't there…[he] continued to sweat and [his] heart beat much faster” (54). This passage clearly describes the symptoms of PTSD called flashbacks. The trees lining the road triggered the lifting of Bartle... middle of paper... and maimed. The war left the soldiers marked by psychological problems so much so that all successfully committed suicide except Bartle. However, as time passes, Bartle will learn to forget his past. At the beginning of the novel, Power opens the book with an epigraph by Sir Thomas Browne. To summarize, the epigraph gives readers an idea of ​​what happens to Bartle by the end of the story. Indeed, Sir Thomas Brown is trying to convey the message that we all have the power to forget. It is in our nature to forget our evil past, but it takes time. In fact, it took Bartle a long time to heal from the war. He had to bring the beauty of nature back into his life, the nature he had been taught to destroy and forget during the war. Because he lives in the cabin with nature, he is surrounded by innocence and beauty, which allows him to forget the past.