The Smash Of Spiritual Shackles

Alice walker, the winner of Pulitzer Prize, novelist, poet and social activist, who iscalled “Virginia Woolf of the time” is one of the most outstanding novelist in Americanowadays. Her recent novel By the Light of My Father’s Smile is her subversive attemptto break the man-centered family order. This thesis tries to analysis the trauma writing ofthe characters in this novel. Cultural discrimination, identity confusion and patriarchaloppression are the major causes of the trauma, which may cause emotional anesthesia,hysteria and insert memory of the victims. By the establishment of contact with thesociety, writing, facing the traumatic memory bravely and returning to their culture, theyfinally succeed in going through trauma. This novel explains the causes and thesymptoms of trauma of the black people and talks about the ways which may help themgo through trauma. It reveals the author’s belief for the African American’s to smash thespiritual shackles and find the light in their life.