Eb Maclean and PTSD: The Challenge To Keep the Protagonist's Flaw From Taking Over the Story

I mentioned in a previous post that my protagonist in Judgment Tramp, Eb Maclean, has PTSD. His condition is common among servicemen and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, or in any other hazardous posting.

I made a conscious decision right from the beginning to saddle Eb with these problems--not only because I hoped it would help make him a more believable character, but also to hopefully shed some light on a condition that is more pervasive in our military than we think. About 20% of our returning service-people suffer from PTSD or depression upon returning home, and that number seems to be going up.

Weaving Eb's PTSD into the storyline seemed like a worthy goal, but there were problems, some of which I anticipated, and some that crept up on me once I began the writing process. I looked forward to the opportunity to make Eb flawed, and the PTSD was a handy device to help me introduce some less than stellar character attributes.A stronger, more stable hero would make different decisions and move the story in a different direction. It is Eb's struggle that colors his actions and choices. But I wanted to write thrillers, not literary fiction, and there has been a constant danger of allowing Eb's problems to carry the story away from my chosen genre. And there is always the additional danger of making a protagonist flawed to the point where the reader decides the effort of reading isn't worth the potential reward--because they decide the protagonist is not flawed at all, but is simply a jerk. I certainly didn't want that. PTSD as choice of flaw made him, in my mind, a more sympathetic character despite his unlikable qualities.

I'm slowly learning to resist the urge to describe every aspect of Eb's PTSD...and my editor/beta reader helps to keep me honest in this regard. I also don't want the PTSD to become a cliche'.

PTSD isn't just about having flashbacks (the standard TV drama treatment of the condition) or temper issues, and sometimes the truth of the condition's effect on someone is quite graphic. I want Eb Maclean to be real, but I'm learning that every little aspect of his condition doesn't need to be explained in detail. In fact, most of those details are probably more of a distraction to the storyline.

I want my readers to see Eb as a real hero, flawed, but worthy of redemption. I expect the reader to have sympathy for Eb's problems, but I don't want that sympathy for him to take over and derail the story. It's a fine line and one that I keep in mind continually. 

Freedom Isn't Free

Judgment Tramp is a book about the hunt for a killer, but it's also about a soldier's attempt to return to civilian life. Sure, the book is categorized as a mystery/thriller, but I think of it as more of a psychological thriller than anything else. 

The protagonist, Eb Maclean, is just a guy who's trying to get his life back together. He isn't necessarily looking for trouble;but trouble seems to find him quite easily. A lot of his problems are inside of him, because, try as he might, he can't seem to leave the army in the past. His experience is troubling and it leads him to react to the events around him in specific ways.

Eb isn't a superhero. He isn't a Hollywood creation, and he isn't bigger than life. He's flawed, and sometimes he isn't even a nice person. He can be stuffy, judgmental, and even a bit of a bigot. He's angry. He's confused. And most of all, he's human, with all of the wonderful qualities and limitations of the species. He isn't Rambo--he's just a guy who answered the call to do a dirty, messy job that most people wouldn't do, and he will never fully recover from it.

Eb isn't special.

I write that as a matter of truth because Eb is a creation of mine, but in reality he is no different than any other soldier, past or present. None of our soldiers go to Iraq and Afghanistan (or Omaha Beach, or Gettysburg, or Monmouth Courthouse) and come back whole. They leave a little piece of themselves behind. They sometimes come home with problems like PTSD. We don't do enough for them--we should take better care of our people who give so much to us.

Eb is one of those people. He is not special--he is typical of the type of people who serve our nation. And I have no problem calling him a hero.

Like all of our military people, Eb didn't just pay the price for his service--he paid for all of us.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday weekend. Please be safe, and remember to take a few moments to thank our servicemen and women for their sacrifice on our behalf. Eb Maclean is in good company.

In honor of Memorial Day, JUDGMENT TRAMP (an Eb Maclean Novel) will be free :May 26 & 27 on Amazon.