Soft inarticulate wide-eyed morons with know-nothing epiphanies and none of them - not one of them - did what she said… She could accept that these people didn’t know how to lead or follow, but they could at least shut up” (Hoffman, 159). Therefore, there is nothing too odd about the fact that throughout the novel’s entirety, Lauren cannot help referring to the rest of civilian Americans as innately ‘corrupted’ individuals, not capable of prioritizing the country’s national interests above their personal highly egoistic agendas in life: “She’d come home to a world of fragile baby animals. In the PTSD-affected mind of a war-veteran, this situation appears rather intolerable, because it contradicts the ‘survival of the fittest’ principle, which those with military experience, consider the main guiding-principle of social dynamics in just about any society, regardless of whatever happened to be the affiliated circumstances. Such a sensation, on the protagonist’s part, correlates flawlessly with the main provision of the DSM-5 Criteria for diagnosing war-veterans with PTSD – the concerned individuals tend to perceive the realities of a civilian living as being ‘artificial’ to a large extent, in the sense that there are way too many ‘unnecessary’ rules and regulations to it (Phillips 2). Here is what you were and what you won’t be again” (Hoffman, 34). This angst, in turn, has been triggered by the fact that, ever since she came back to the US, Lauren never ceased experiencing the sensation of cognitive dissonance between what used to account for her pre-military identity and what she became after having served in Iraq as a platoon leader: “Lauren looked at the other pictures in the room… A face she’d once had and would not be getting back. In particular, Lauren appears to be affected by some irrational/illusive angst, extrapolated by the manner in which the main character addresses life-challenges. Nevertheless, as time goes on, the protagonist’s friends and relatives grow increasingly aware that she is not quite the same person, as compared to what she used to be, prior to having enlisted to serve in the US Army. As it was mentioned in the novel: “(Lauren) thought about the promise of relief that would come from doing everyday things like washing dishes, gazing out the window at kids playing by the duplex next door, taking Danny to the movies” (Hoffman 7). In fact, the protagonist herself applies much effort into trying to stick to her rational conviction that she will be able to benefit in a number of different ways from adopting the lifestyle of a civilian person. Throughout the novel’s initial chapters, Lauren does not seem to exhibit any clear signs of having trouble with trying to adjust to the realities of a civilian living in America. Although Be Safe I Love You ends on a rather optimistic note, the author leaves only a few doubts as to the fact that the workings of Lauren’s psyche will be forever affected by her wartime memories. While becoming ever more affected by PTSD, without being fully aware of it, Lauren ends up taking Danny in the Canadian wilderness with the essentially psychotic intention to teach him some survival skills – the deed that clearly bounced on the edge of being determined a kidnapping. Generally speaking, the plot of Be Safe I Love You revolves around the story of Lauren Clay – a woman in her mid-twenties and the former US soldier, who after having been stationed on active duty in Iraq, came back to reunite with her father (Jack) and her younger brother (Danny) in the upstate New York. In my paper, I will explore the validity of this suggestion at length while arguing that the author particularly excelled in describing the commonly overlooked ‘weak’ and ‘mild’ symptoms of PTSD and illustrating the point with examples from the text. What is even more important – they will also be able to gain a better understanding of what accounts for the disorder’s discursive significance as an integral part of contemporary living in today’s America. In the aftermath of having been exposed to Hoffman’s novel, readers will be much more likely to recognize the symptoms of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a person. When assessed from this particular perspective, Cara Hoffman’s 2014 novel Be Safe I Love You will indeed appear rather invaluable.
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