Charles Portis: 'I Don T Talk Service No More'
Charles Portis: “I Don’t talk Service No More”
In the beginning of the Cold War, Korea was divided into two at the 38th parallel. Russia occupied the northern part and the United States occupied the southern part. The two of them both influenced the parts, in which they occupied, and one day the communist-backed North Korea invaded the South, leading to the outbreak of the Korean War. When the war ended, many former soldiers were coping with the consequence of posttraumatic stress syndrome, because once you have been in a war like this, it can change you forever. A clear example of this situation is the short story “I Don’t talk Service No More” (1996) by Charles Portis that revolves around the life of an American war veteran, who is stuck …show more content…
Postmodernism is a literary style that began after the Second World War and wars have been a popular topic of American literature since then. Especially the Cold War, that the Korean War is a part of, has been a known topic of the postmodern era.
Furthermore, the author of “I Don’t talk Service No More”, Charles Portis, served in the U.S. Marines in the Korean War. He even lived in Korea for the duration of his service, which makes you think if this novel was his own flow of thoughts or about someone that he knew. Maybe he just wanted to give the people an insight to the life of a war veteran, or just to write something that most of them can relate to on some level.
The Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce, but the soldiers lived on and faced the aftermaths of the war. They faced the guilt, the nightmares and the feeling that they did not belong anymore. Maybe that’s what the main character of “I Don’t talk Service No More” dealt with. It could be what made him end up in the mental institution. Neap asked if it was bad in there, and he answered that it was not that bad, not when he had the keys (page 5, line 12). He wanted to stay in the mind of a soldier, but maybe having the keys gave him the peace that he needed to go on, when he could not talk
In the beginning of the Cold War, Korea was divided into two at the 38th parallel. Russia occupied the northern part and the United States occupied the southern part. The two of them both influenced the parts, in which they occupied, and one day the communist-backed North Korea invaded the South, leading to the outbreak of the Korean War. When the war ended, many former soldiers were coping with the consequence of posttraumatic stress syndrome, because once you have been in a war like this, it can change you forever. A clear example of this situation is the short story “I Don’t talk Service No More” (1996) by Charles Portis that revolves around the life of an American war veteran, who is stuck …show more content…
Postmodernism is a literary style that began after the Second World War and wars have been a popular topic of American literature since then. Especially the Cold War, that the Korean War is a part of, has been a known topic of the postmodern era.
Furthermore, the author of “I Don’t talk Service No More”, Charles Portis, served in the U.S. Marines in the Korean War. He even lived in Korea for the duration of his service, which makes you think if this novel was his own flow of thoughts or about someone that he knew. Maybe he just wanted to give the people an insight to the life of a war veteran, or just to write something that most of them can relate to on some level.
The Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce, but the soldiers lived on and faced the aftermaths of the war. They faced the guilt, the nightmares and the feeling that they did not belong anymore. Maybe that’s what the main character of “I Don’t talk Service No More” dealt with. It could be what made him end up in the mental institution. Neap asked if it was bad in there, and he answered that it was not that bad, not when he had the keys (page 5, line 12). He wanted to stay in the mind of a soldier, but maybe having the keys gave him the peace that he needed to go on, when he could not talk