The social problems caused by posttraumatic stress disorder have been well publicized in America since the end of the Vietnam War. Acts of extreme violence have been attributed to it, as have some cases of severe psychological disorder. Soldier's Heart does not focus on the eruptions of violence; Charley apparently poses no danger to civilians after the war, although he is a danger to himself. He wonders "if it was time to go visit the others." This adds to his psychological complexity, because this is what is often called "survivor's syndrome"; sometimes when people have survived an event that killed many others, they feel that they should be dead, too. This is often associated with guilt, but Charley seems lacking in guilt. Instead, he seems stuck in his interior world where he believes that he should be dead, that in fact he was killed in battle...