In the book Mrs. Dalloway that I recently read during our ASTU class is mainly about Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class housewife’s day. In the novel, Virginia Woolf uses different characters to represent different memories and traumas that the British society had during the Post World War 1. For example, Clarissa Dalloway represents the memories of the upper class, and she beautifies her world trying to concealing the hideous truth and darkness of reality. On the other hand, Septimus Smith is the personification of the collapse of the imperialistic pride and power of England after the war, exuding the pain and suffering that he is unable to keep hidden. These accounts can be comparable with the recent global issue like Vietnam war could be relevant to the memories and traumas that happened from the early 20th century.

To begin with, the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder that Septimus had can be connected with memories and traumas from American soldiers who participated in the Vietnam war. Like other youngsters who want to join the war, Septimus served the military because he had the nationalistic pride and wanted to preserve his idyllic England. However, when Septimus becomes a war veteran that that fails to contain his emotional stress. He shows his inner turmoil, even though he knows that society expects him to repress those emotions. Just like other troops returning from war, Septimus experiences PTSD, despite the efforts that his wife and doctor want him to return to his civilian life by conforming the ideas of the society, Septimus founds out that he can’t be blend in to the society. As a result, although he sacrificed his entire youth to his country, he was just one the victims that got inspired by the  propaganda of the aristocracy, which was just a illusion that disappeared after the war. He represents the soldiers that went to war to maintain the fame that their country had, though society expected the soldier to be the same man when he returned from battle. If there were any questions or doubts about the belief system, the soldiers are not viewed as heroes, but as dissenters. Just like the British government have done towards Septimus, the U.S government also recruited troops by evoking the nationalism that every young man has. However, the aftermath isn’t that ideal because of the traumas and distress that soldiers had, they couldn’t be conjoin towards the society.

To sum up, Sunzi once said: ”Hence to fight and conquer in all your Battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in Breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. And the greatest victory, the greatest battles are the battles that won without having been fought,” Septimus’s memory in Mrs. Dalloway can be connected with global issues like Vietnam war and can be relevant with other issues around the world.