We learn that when Henry returns home from the war, he suffers from PTSD. "It was at least three years before Henry came home. By then I guess the whole war was settled in the government's mind, but for him it would go on" (444). PTSD changes a person and doesn't always stem from war. Henry came back a completely different person. He was quiet and he was mean. He could never sit still unless he was positioned in front of the color TV. But even then he felt uncomfortable: "But it was the kind of stillness you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it escapes"."