ptsd

"It wasn’t real. None of it was real. The only things that was real was me and Peewee, sitting in this spider’s grave, waiting for death." Richie Perry, pg. 289

Even after four months in Vietnam, Perry is unable to reconcile the horrific reality of war with his life in ‘the World.” It is too painful for him to think about how he and Peewee have ended up in the spider hole and to accept the tragedy and violence unfolding around them. Throughout the novel, the soldiers separate the Vietnam from ‘the World’ in order to distance themselves from the horrors of war. Additionally, Perry refers to the spider hole as a ‘spider’s grave.’ At this moment, Perry believes he will die, and believes that his last memory and resting place will be inside this hole with Peewee.