Inescapable Trauma

Joyce Carole Oates is a prominent female writer, playwright, critic and poet in contemporary America. She has been nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature two times. Mainly depicting the traumatic characters in the tragic American modern society, her works effectively expose the darkness and the complex human nature in the world of America. As a social fiction centering on the social changes in America from 1930s to 1960s, them is an example of Oates at her best, winning the author the National Book Award in 1970. Presented in dual contexts of both capitalism and patriarchy, the novel chronicles the life and struggle of the Wendalls, among which the story of Maureen is more impressive. To be the representative figure of the Wendalls as well as a typical example of the traumatized, Maureen lives with endless nightmares. Although she is desperate for freedom and independence, happiness is always unapproachable to her no matter how hard she has struggled. She is destined to be destroyed by the society, becoming an ill-fated victim.Critics have taken great interests in Maureen, but most of them study her from the perspectives of violent elements and feminism. The present thesis attempts a new interpretation of Maureen in terms of trauma theory in order to verify that her trauma is inescapable and representative of American history by probing into the deep causes leading to her trauma. Initially originating from a theory that studies a kind of psychological symptom and its treatment methodology, trauma theory offers a more explicit analytical method of literary works, seeking to illuminate the cultural and ethical implications of trauma. The rise of it provides writers with new ways of conceptualizing trauma and shifts attention away from the question of what traumatic events have happened to how and why they happen. The present thesis combines trauma theory with the literary text analysis in the hope of providing a new angle for the study of the works of Oates in domestic academia.This thesis consists of an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion.The opening part mainly gives a brief introduction to Oates and a general literature review on them, and meanwhile states the research direction as well as layout of the present thesis.Chapter One conducts a concise survey of trauma theory, including definitions of trauma and trauma theory, formation and historical development of trauma theory, and relation between trauma and literary activity, the combination of which offers the theoretical framework for the following chapters.Chapter Two makes an anatomy of the trauma of Maureen in terms of individual-society relationship. Turbulent Detroit, social and economic oppressions, together with the isolation suffered in community trigger Maureen to bear the stamp of trauma at her childhood.Chapter Three analyzes Maureen's trauma from the aspect of individual-family relationship. Living in the family consisting of traumatized mother, apathetic brother as well as two violent fathers symbolizing patriarchal authority, Maureen is severely tortured, physically and psychologically. Maureen's spirit of revolt is exposed in this chapter. She tries hard to avoid her fate of replicating the life of her mother and is desperate for independent self, but falls into a prostitute and later lapses into a coma after a savage beating, ultimately becoming the victim of her family.Chapter Four draws the conclusion from Maureen's experience that the only way to recover from trauma is to acquire spiritual and economic independence so as to realize self construction. However, in the light of the reality of society, history and Maureen's own characteristic, it's impossible for Maureen to escape from her traumatic fate no matter how hard she struggles.These chapters are followed by a conclusion which points out that Maureen's trauma is not only a personal one but more significantly signifies the whole Americans in microcosm. By means of the depiction of Maureen's trauma, Oates intends to arouse public concern and sympathy and to call on everyone to make concerted efforts to eradicate the cancers triggering trauma.