Stephen Dau’s 2012 novel The Book of Jonas tells the tale of Younis, a teenage boy who lives in an unknown country in the Middle East. Old enough to understand the nature of war and death, as well as the East-West conflict, but too young to be at fault for it, Younis is in a tremendously arduous time in his life. Being assimilated into American life, Younis (now Jonas) finds himself dealing with a great many stressors and issues in his psyche. According to his therapist, Paul, Jonas has a tendency to dissociate, and also shows signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – these diagnoses are supported in the text, as Jonas shows classic signs of both disorders as he attempts to deal with the pressures of assimilating into a culture that hates you.
Jonas, in his withdrawn reaction to the world and his inability to process and move on from severe traumas, absolutely has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When Jonas was 15, his entire family was killed by American soldiers, only to find himself treated by an American soldier named Christopher (who is later killed as well); this is a tremendous stressor for him that keeps from truly finding a place of peace in his life. According to the National Institute of Medical Health, “people who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re not in danger” (NIMH, 2013). This is definitely true of Jonas; he cowers in fear at school, refuses to engage with other students for fear that they might say something and ridicule him, or get himself beaten (Dau 22). Those who suffer from PTSD often re-experience the trauma over and over in their head, have constantly frightening thoughts, and bad dreams; Jonas does all of this, constantly looking back on the night Christopher was killed in regret and shame (NIMH, 2013). PTSD sufferers also suffer from avoidant personality symptoms, as they try to stay away from others, feel very depressed and emotionally numb, and worry about things constantly (NIMH, 2013). Jonas is definitely guilty of this; he turns to drinking heavily in order to forget the terrible things that haunt him, and often has trouble remembering this event. Jonas “strives to keep himself unknowable,” in order to distance himself from others and possibly avoid re-experiencing the trauma again (Dau 18).
Another disorder that Paul finds Jonas experiencing is dissociation – dissociative disorders such as depersonalization disorder most accurately describe Jonas’ experiences and state of mind. Those who dissociate find themselves having what are effectively out-of-body experiences; they drift around in their heads, unaware of the world around them, and staying numb to the whole experience. Paul notes that Jonas spends a lot of time “drifting and unaware” in his head; Jonas says he has “spend lifetimes unconscious” (Dau 18). Those suffering from depersonalization disorder find themselves disconnected from their own physicality, almost as if they are not occupying their own body (Salter 220). This is the case with Jonas: “Jonas has told him that often he sees his body, his surroundings, and himself from the outside, objectively. This does not happen all the time, only when he is in a particularly high state of stress or concentration” (Dau 10). Because of the severe anxiety both the culture shock of moving to America and the events that night with Christopher, Jonas simply feels it would be best to not be him for awhile, and so he drifts off in order to avoid those terrible feelings.
Both of these disorders help to explain Jonas’ troubles, his lack of empathy and communication with others, and his drinking problem. Jonas has a tremendously hard time at school: “at the high school, he tries to talk to other students, but they trick him into saying thingshe gets A’s in everything. He wanders the halls like a ghost” (Dau 10). Because he carries both of these disorders, he has a tremendously hard time processing the events of Christopher’s rescue of him and subsequent death; this is made worse by the relentless taunting of his fellow students. These particular disorders cause him to disengage and dissociate whenever a potential conflict comes up, and even in anticipation of some conflicts: “Every morning, he sits at his corner desk and remains quiet. He tries to blend into the wall, the Formica desktop, the floor. He attempts to render himself invisible” (Dau 22).
Furthermore, he is given no chance to do things that would lighten and diminish the symptoms of dissociation – studies show that relaxation, interpersonal interactions and physical/emotional stimulation can help, but Jonas receives none of that solace in school (Simeon et al. 990). To that end, Jonas finds himself trapped in a tremendously stressful situation that causes him to want to dissociate from the world around him. Jonas is not given the ability to process his traumas, due to his inability to open up about them, and the lack of a decent mentor or friendly figure to open up to. The presence of Paul is able to help somewhat in that respect, as well as his experiences with Christopher’s mother. Jonas learns the value of dealing with his own traumas by focusing on the plight of others: “She says that helping other families deal with the loss of their loved ones has helped her deal with her own loss” (Dau). It is only through these steps that Jonas is able to fully examine himself and find absolution for his feelings of responsibility in Christopher’s death.
In conclusion, the main character of Jonas in The Book of Jonas finds himself dealing with extreme Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and dissociation/depersonalization disorder, due to the stressful situation he has found himself in. The causes of these disorders are both the murder of his family and killing of the American soldier who helped him, and his difficulties in assimilating to America. Because of these disorders, he simply cannot process his feelings of guilt and remorse about what happened to Christopher, as well as his devastation at the treatment he receives from his fellow students. This results in feelings of depression, self-medicating with alcohol, and a constant tendency to dissociate from his surroundings as a coping mechanism. The Book of Jonas is a supremely postmodern novel in this sense, as the main character’ s problems are concretely diagnosed and discussed – Jonas’ own fragmentation echoes the dissociation he is shown to often feel. By focusing the book on Jonas as a person and not as a political prop, Dau allows the reader to understand implicitly the effects of these conflicts on innocents – namely, these crippling disorders.
Works Cited
Dau, Stephen. The Book of Jonas. Blue Rider Press, 2012. Print.
National Institute of Mental Health. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” NIMH.com. Oct.
15, 2013. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml>.
Salter, Dr, Anna C. and Hilary Eldridge. Transforming Trauma: A Guide to Understanding and
Treating Adult Survivors. Sage Publications Inc., 1995. Print.
Simeon D, Knutelska M, Nelson D, Guralnik O (2003). "Feeling unreal: a depersonalization
disorder update of 117 cases". Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 64 (9), 2003, pp. 990–7.
