France is a librarian and college counselor, and he also teaches at University Liggett School and Macomb Community College near Detroit, Michigan. In the following essay, France discusses both historical context and evidence of post traumatic stress disorder in Chandra's story.

Vikram Chandra's "Dharma" revolves around the character Jehangir "Jago" Antia and his coming to terms with the loss of his brother, his parents, his childhood, and one of his legs. These are all traumas that Jago can only deal with once he is released, because of his phantom pain, from Dharma, or duty. In Jago's case, specifically, this duty is the total dedication he gave to the duties of a soldier that kept him from attending to his inner self. What Jago discovers is that his memory and release from Dharma permits him to come to terms, for the first time in his life, with a...