The War Impacts on Personal Human Relations: An Analysis Study of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut an The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Abstract

The present study, through the trauma theory lens, critically explores the war effects on individuals in Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), novel by the American writer Kurt Vonnegut and The Things They Carried (1990), novel by Tim O’Brien the American novelist, this conceptual framework initiates in the intersection of relational sociology, trauma theory, as well as postmodern literary criticism, through this multi-dimensional lens this study would analyze war’s impact on human relations especially personal relationships in a frame of postmodernism.Trauma theory supposes that persons suffer deep psychological trauma when they face events that are irresistible, threatening  safety and life, which create deep helplessness feelings .Severe neglect, violence, accidents and natural disasters , all of these events and more cause psychological traumas for individuals last for long time leaving deep impacts. The protagonists in the two novels Billy Pilgrim and Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, respectively, both are heavily impacted by the war experiences, they face different psychological war traumas. Billy, the war prisoner, is an unenthusiastic soldier who faces the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.), whereas Lieutenant Cross is the leader who bearing guilt and responsibility toward his men, he thinks neither of them truly able to grips with the war toll. Different kinds of trauma shape each character, both are attributed to the war cost but respond to their psychological trauma in different ways.Even though the two literary works being set in different historical times, World War II (1944-1945) as well as the War of Vietnam (1969- 1971), respectively, they exceed their definite contexts to suggest universal understandings into the emotional and relational war toll. Both, Vonnegut and O’Brien put away and reject previous classic war glorifications, concentrating instead on its deep devastating harsh influences on individuals and their human connections with others in society. Through the novels’ portrayal of trauma, guilt, and alienation, the writers present the monstrous consequences of war, emphasising the human bonds’ fragility in facing upheaval and war violence. Therefore, by blending cultural as well as psychological dimensions, the under discussion works represent poignant analyses of war conflicts, stand as a testament to the lasting human wars’ cost on relational and personal levels. This study employed a descriptive qualitative method so as to examine the selected novels’ texts. The study’s significance lies in the unique approach that adopted trauma theory, as well as postmodern literary criticism and relational sociology criticism, as a multidimensional lens to evaluate war’s impact on human relations especially personal relationships as they remain underexplored in contemporary literature since war is a continuous conflict that takes different forms and causes deep terrible impacts on all