Writing Is All He Has

"He had the burden of his generation, a debt to repay before dying. It would be tragic and unjust in the extreme if he were to pass away, to be buried deep in the wet earth, carrying with him the history of his generation. If only he could shed all other need of everyday living and concentrate all his energies into writing his task would be over sooner."

This quote from the book is very important in showing that Kein had lost all belief that he served any purpose on this earth other than to tell his story. Kein had no family left, the one girl he loved had been getting with other men the entire time he was gone, and he can't seem to find a sense of who is he is at all anymore. An explanation for all this is a topic we have brought up in class a few times now that deals with this idea of having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I believe that this disorder which is said to be the result of a terribly frightening, life-threating, or otherwise highly unsafe experiences is a very reasonable explanation for why Kein acts the way he does. The war changes people and we can see that it has changed Kein. He feels as though he serves no purposed on this Earth other than to tell his story and after he completes that there will be no reason for him to live any longer.

The following website goes into greater detail on this Post Trumatic Stress Disorder and will help the reader better understand the things that Kein is going thorough throughout The Sarrow of War.

http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraumatic_stress_disorder/article.htm