Triage - Scott AndersonHow does Joquin help Mark and Elena?

Scott Anderson’s partly autobiographical novel ‘Triage’ explores the consequences one faces, as a result of any involvement in majorly traumatic experiences such as war. Anderson’s depiction of such characters as Mark Walsh – a guilt ridden war photographer – and Joaquin Morales – a self-professed psychiatrist – portrays a cynical attitude toward the conventional view that war affects only its victims, and that survivors aught to be considered fortunate. Although Joaquin’s motives for helping Mark are not souly in Mark’s interests, it is he who rises to the opportunity to re-establish the scathed relationship with his granddaughter Elena Morales, whilst in the process, strengthening Mark and Elena’s commitment to one another.

Healing is a central theme communicated through Anderson’s ‘Triage’, in relation to its protagonist Mark and his struggle with the guilt he feels for being a survivor. Anderson shows that reconciliation, after an extremely traum...