Maisie Dobbs Essay Samples

Question 1

Maisie Dobbs is a book written by Jacqueline Winspear. The book’s setting is in the World War I, and Maisie Dobbs acts as an investigator, previously a field nurse. The change in positions comes after she sees repeated occasions of post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD in the novel characterizes the several scenarios that a person might get it. The major cases are from the people who experienced a severe situation like war, and it troubles them. The people who end up losing their children from war have a hard time letting go of the thought that they are gone. They hold on to their memories and in turn suffer from depression. The medics in the war zone suffer from PTSD because of their involvement in healing people. They develop a phobia for the field as they can put up with the stress in the emergency room.
The first person to exhibit post-traumatic stress is Maisie. She gets recalls of the experiences she went through in the World War. The trauma wounds her self-confidence in working as a nurse in the world war. However, it comes as a good thing as she starts her journey in discovering more about PTSD. James Compton, son of Lord Julian, gets both physical and emotional scars as a result of the world war where he was one of the Royal Flying Corps. Apart from the war, James loses Enid, his first love through murder in their munitions factory. She worked for the family as a domestic servant.
Priscilla Partridge, an old friend of Maisie since college years in Girton, suffers from stress as a result of the loss of her three brothers in the world war and parents from a flu epidemic. She quits her job as an ambulance driver and heads off to Biarritz, France’s Atlantic coastline. She spends her days attending parties and getting drunk. Along the way, she meets Douglas, who helps her recover from the stress and ends up married. Simon Lynch, Maisie first love and a great doctor in the world war suffered brutally in the war. He ends up incapacitated and injured emotionally. The soldiers who survived the world war experience came back with acute conditions of stress. They keep regretting why they went to war, why their friends had to die and not them. Some regret not dying with their friends in war.
The differences in PTSD is as a result of the experiences one had in the war. Those that participated in the war suffer the most as they had field experience of the action. The memories they had in the war will live with them till they die. The best way to help them is through constant counseling to relieve their minds from the experiences. The next group is the people affected by the war. They include family members and relatives. They suffer from loss of their loved ones and cannot comprehend the thought that they will not be with them anymore.

Question 3

The World War I came with its share of good and bad deeds. It brought about the advancement of technology and army training. The major demerit of the war is the killing of innocent people in the affected areas. The destruction left people with scars, families without fathers and depression. The World War brought about the change in the economy, political fields, and social structure. The social structure brought about changes in the workload of people. Most of the men enrolled for army position leaving their casual works. Before the war, the man had a responsibility of taking care of the family in terms of provision of necessities such as food and money. The woman played a role in ensuring the family eats and lives well. Her responsibilities revolved around the housework.
The war meant that women will play both roles of a father and mother. The absence of the father meant that the wife should take up jobs to sustain the family since most of the money sent back was not enough. Apart from that, more women were left without husbands due to the war effects. They have no option but to cope with the situation. As expressed in Maisie Dobbs’ story, most women transitioned into working as a means of making money. Maisie Dobb was a private detective and a nurse at the same time.
The society had a significant change in its social class. There was a significant change in the middle class. It comprised of traditional property owners. During and after the war, the middle class had a new group of people joining it; experts and managers. They had risen in numbers to become the major stakeholders in the group. The other classes include the high class, working class, and lower class. The high class comprised of the rich merchants and politicians who had the major authority in the country. The working class were below the middle class and had a taste of the good life though they could not afford it for long. The low class was people who struggled to keep up with life and cannot afford the luxury of life.
The social class depicts how one gets treated, how they live and what they can or cannot do. The most fortunate group is the high class. They had all the things money could buy and where not shy of spoiling themselves. Their children went to prestigious schools and had private tutors and workers. They never worked at all since their parents hired servants for them. A major characteristic of the high class is they looked down upon people. They had no respect for the other classes and saw them as peasants. The lower class comprised of the poor people who had a hard time coping with life. The little they got from working could only cater for their basic needs. The major characteristic of the group is their humility. They took every chance they got the last and worked their level best to ensure they bullied the client’s desires.