Fly Away Peter and the Significance of Suffering Rebecca Adams 11th Grade

In Fly Away Peter, David Malouf presents both physical and mental suffering through portraying the experiences of Eric and Jim, emphasizing both the acute and chronic suffering that the soldiers experienced as a consequence of war. Immediately, it is clear that Eric has been psychically injured through war, as he is unable to walk - this is the suffering that is to be expected, due to the violence and danger of the battlefield. However, with his physical suffering meaning that his independence has consequently been taken away, his injury is also symbolic in the way he can no longer act as autonomously as he could previously.

Eric's lack of independence and ability to care for himself acts as a grim contrast to the patriotic, picturesque idea of the war that many young men signed up for - expecting the outcome to be medals and honor, not disability and having to be 'helped into a chair’. It is also implied that Eric is suffering mentally in the way he seems to have a nervous disposition, implying that he has shell shock, or PTSD. The 'fine line of sweat' that 'drops on the boy's upper lip' shows his constant state of anxiety, with the use of 'boy' acting as a reminded of the young age of some of the soldier who were killed or...