What is the price of war? How do we help people who suffer from trauma? Where is the line when it comes to family loyalty?
Great Falls chronicles the turbulent relationship between Shane, a high school football star, and his Marine brother Jeremy who is recently returned from his third tour overseas.
Jeremy’s behavior as depicted in the book is evidence of PTSD and severe emotional trauma. He turns to alcoholism to deal with both of these issues, and this adds yet another layer of bodily trauma that he endures.
Shane is internally complex, juggling emotions such as, guilt, shame, grief, and anger. He looks up to Jeremy, but he is also critical of Jeremy’s neglect towards his family.He has no healthy outlet for these feelings, and it is clear in the book that he uses football as a means to exhibit aggression he cannot express at home. The Colonel, who is the abusive step father of both brothers, is yet another example of mismanaged emotions manifesting in violence.
This book is full of toxic relationships, but this adds realism and can work as a catalyst to open up necessary discussion about guilt, trauma, suicide, and domestic abuse.
Pros: Cover many tough topics such as PTSD, toxic sports culture, domestic abuse, and suicide. This story can open up productive discussions.
Cons: There is a lot of swearing which might not be good for less mature classes.
Links:
Shane and Jeremy both seem to suffer from brain damage. In Jeremy’s case, he might have CTE which is highly destructive to the person’s quality of life. This link helps clarify what CTE is and how it affects those who suffer from it.
This article briefly discusses the difficulties that soldiers experience when they re-enter civilian life. https://www.ausa.org/news/report-army-culture-can-complicate-transition
This link is to a TED talk that discusses suicide. It is highly emotional and would work as a great precursor to discussion over Jeremy’s suicide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1QoyTmeAYw
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