Triage
'Mark was looking for himself, still trying to find his way back from the dead.' How does Mark learn to love with the pain of the past?Before his breakdown war is merely a career opportunity for Mark. He moves from one trouble spot to another to make a living, not because he has any commitment to a cause. Mark's mental breakdown is caused by a result of witnessing too many wars, his physical and mental injuries from Kurdistan, Talzani's triage process, his amnesia of Colin's fate and too many needless deaths. His eventual acceptance that scars only partially heal forms the narrative of the novel.Mark is forced to embark upon a journey to self knowledge and spiritual awareness.Mark a sensitive young man, his father recalls that he was different from other children: '...you were the most sensitive. Very inquisitive, too" (p. 131). While other children had no awareness of the outside world, Mark reacted sensitively to news items. But after nine years of exposure to war violence, he has certain arrogance about how unaffected he is. Joaquin plays a major role in Mark's voyage forgiving and forgetting the pain of the past. By listening carefully to Mark's accounts of his war experiences, Joaquin is able to restore Mark's me
In Spain, Mark begins to value his relationship with Elena more a he sees how important for his own well-being it is to share his thoughts and love with her. Joaquin presents the confronting view that for a reason, or lack of; war is inevitable. Later in the novel when Mark realises he is not going to find him, that there is no real answer, he realises there is only himself left and that comes to the decisions as he reaches a turning point where he must accept what happened in the past. Mark's path to recovery entails both a physical and spiritual journey and it is only the beautiful countryside of southern Spain that allows him to "forget the dead" (183 - Talzani) In Spain Joaquin teaches him to turn away from the past. However we quickly see it is his philosophy on war which allows Mark to acknowledge that maybe there was nothing else he could have done for Colin. All of us, we have to turn away" because "no one has the right to waste their life" (183) Mark is forced to again accept that that suffering is part of life that any survivor must simply accept. Mark's journey to find his way back from the dead is a journey about the search for forgiveness, self awareness and acceptance. There is hope and 'the promise of future laughter" (235). And Elena allows Mark the space to change as she ". Talzani underlines the philosophy that there is "no pattern to who lives or dies in war" (25) He tries to save Mark from his painful journey by trying to anticipate the trauma and hopes by telling him that "some live, some dies, that's all" (26). Allowing Mark to "come back to the people who love" him. But this is not the end of Mark's trauma. (102) Joaquin believes that Mark will learn to accept that there is on way the 'problem - the pain of the past "can't be torn out like a weed" (123), and that he can learn to tolerate the guilt he feels.
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Acceptance Essays
