The Yellow Birds

In todays blog, I will not be posting about globalization, security and development or anything of that nature. Instead I will try to connect global issues to todays blog post, which is about the book "The Yellow Birds" by Kevin Powers. The novel is a about friendship, loss and redemption that takes places in the Iraq War. During that war, certain events connect our three protagonists' lives. Sergeant Sterling, a veteran , tasks 21-year-old Private John Bartle with guiding and watching 18-year-old Private Daniel Murphy, also known simply as 'Murph', through the war. Hesitant at first to take responsibility for Bartle, he soon comes to think of Murph as a close friend. Their experiences training for and then fighting in the war bonded them in a way that nothing else could, but fate steps in to tear that bond apart. The novel constantly switches time periods with each chapter, beginning with a battle in Al Tafar, Iraq, then flashing back to a base in New Jersey before settling in Iraq and Bartle’s post-war life in Virginia and Kentucky. Having promised both Sterling and Murphy's mother that he would look out for Murph, Bartle becomes more disappointed as he realizes that he is unable to keep that promise. He watches Murph become distant and Murph finally tells Bartle that he doesn’t want anyone to know he was in the war, nor does he want to continue with any relationships connected to it once he’s home. Sterling tells Bartle that Murphy's attitude means he’s probably not going to make it out alive, but Bartle refuses to believe it, still thinking he can help his friend. In the end, Bartle can’t save Murph, who dies horribly after wandering away from the Army outpost where they’re stationed. Bartle carries the guilt of his failure back home after his discharge. Confounding his guilt is the event that occurred after Murphy's death, a secret only he and Sterling share. Wishing to spare Murphy's mother from seeing Murphy's mangled, tortured body and wishing to save Murph from a final humiliation, the two men dump him into the Tigris River and claim they never found him. Back home, Bartle does the best he can to hide his grief and deal with the memory of his actions by avoiding other people and drinking too much. In the end, he can’t keep running or hiding. The Army finds, arrests and convicts him to tell Murphy's mother, who has been hounding them for the truth, about her son. It’s in prison where Bartle finally comes to terms with Murphy's death and also his experiences in the war. Through a conversation with Murphy's mother shortly before his release, Bartle finds a way to forgive himself, though Murph’s mother never tells him that she has forgiven him. Sterling is unable to cope with the reality or consequences of what they did and as the event begins coming to light, he commits suicide – only after one last attempt to save Bartle by not telling the truth when investigators ask. It is Sterling’s one last act of protection for the men he led and cared for.

Discussion Questions

1.) In the first chapter, the soldiers witness the deaths of both their translator and an old woman with little or no emotion. Why this lack of reaction? When Murph and Bartle saw the translator die they simply wonder what number that was so they lack this emotion because they have seen so many people die already. This also is the same mentality when they saw the old woman who died in front of them.

2.) What is Murph's reaction to his girlfriend leaving him? How does Sgt. Sterling react? Why the different approaches? Which one do you think makes more sense? Murph accepted the fact that his girlfriend left, Sterling on the other would not have put up it. The different approaches the soldiers took is reflecting an innocent 18 yr old boy compared to a rough war-torn veteran. Murphs' approach makes more sense to just let it go and move on he is still young.

3.) Why does Bartle say that he wants Murph to "resist now"? Before Bartle told Murph to "resist", Delete repeated word were communicating with Sgt. Sterling through flickers of light. He told Murph to withstand his action in case hostiles where near.

4.) What is a body bomb? Why do Bartle and the other soldiers think about the last moments of a man who was made into the body bomb? Why get into the mind of the victim? A body bomb is basically a suicide bomber with bombs inside or strapped to a person. Moments after the man who had died, the soldiers just moved on in capturing the bridge. The soldiers later got into the mind of the victim to see how his struggles and asking Allah for freedom.

5.) What do you think of Bartle's routine now that he has returned home? He says that "all pain is the same. Only the details are different". How does the pain of being home compare to the pain of combat? Bartle is comparing how life is on the battlefield and at home. He is probably comparing life everyday battles to those of the battlefield. He is also probably suffering from PTSD and on top of that a secret of dumping Murphs' body into the Tigris River in order to save Murphy's mother the pain of seeing her dead son.