AThematic Study Of Trauma In J. D. Salinger’s Fiction

The20th century is a traumatic era. After the two world wars and economicdepression, tremendous changes have taken place in every field in America. Traumaliterature appears and occupies an important place in the literary history. Salinger is oneof the writers who experience traumatic events. But the thematic study of trauma inSalinger’s fiction doesn’t arouse enough attention in domestic studies. With thedevelopment of trauma theory, more and more researchers attach importance to thestudy of trauma literature, to have a further understanding of the fiction’s theme.Jerome David Salinger is famous for his unique writing style and creativeperspective. His representative works include The Catcher in the Rye, Nine Stories,Franny and Zooey, Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters and so on. Most of theprotagonists are children or adolescents in his fictions which describe the youth’sproblems and contradictions in their growth. Born in a rich Jewish family, Salinger joinsthe army during World War II. The experience of war, lack of family’s affection and theturbulent society influence Salinger greatly. The contents of his fiction also refer to war,family relationships, social values and religious problem. His protagonists feel out ofthe tune with the society which is indifferent and money-oriented. It resonates with thereader in the real world.Basic psychoanalytical meaning of the trauma is that, it is an event, defined by firstof all its intensity, secondly the individual or collective’s incapacity to respondadequately to it. Trauma leaves a lasting effect on psychic life of the subject. This paperselects Salinger’s major works and intends to analyze the experience of the protagonistsin his fiction, to explore the writer’s trauma and the theme with the background ofSalinger’s war experience, Jewish identity, family relationship and the turbulent society.Salinger shows the inner trauma of the protagonists with the casual conversation. He notonly emphasizes the utterances and details, but also the spiritual world andcontradictions that make the protagonists struggle painfully. Michelle Balaev studies thenature of trauma from the aspects of place and memory. Bases on the trauma theory andwith Michelle Balaev’s research methods, this paper analyzes Salinger’s trauma and hisfiction’s traumatic theme.The first section is an introduction about Salinger’s life and his works. The secondpart is an analysis of trauma from war experience. With Salinger’s war experience, hemaintains that it is the suffering of being unable to love.“For Esmé-with Love andSqualor” describes a soldier X who suffers insomnia because of the painful memories ofthe war. He meets a girl named Esmé whose father dies in the war. The unforgettableconversation with the girl reveals their desire for peace and hatred of war. The third partis childhood trauma. As a representative character of Salinger’s fictions, Holden hasmuch in common with children of Glass Family and other characters in Salinger’sfiction. They are lonely, warm-hearted and real, they feel confused about the world, they are neglected by relatives，but they struggle for a real life persistently. The traumacomes from the lack of family affection and different values with the adults. The forthpart is victimization trauma. The Laughing Man is victimized by bandits innocentlybecause his parents value money above their son and refuse to save their son under theveil of the religion. The story satirizes the social values and immoral people. The fifthpart is trauma from Jewish identity. It analyzes Salinger’s short story titled “A Girl IKnew” which describes a character’s experience with a Jewish girl in the war, toexplore the living dilemma and trauma of being a Jew.This paper is an attempt to study the causes of tragedy and trauma in Salinger’sfiction through the analyses of his experience and major works with trauma theory. Inthe process of pursuing love and dream, the characters experience the trauma from war,family and society. The invisible violence causes a couple irreconcilable conflictsbetween the pure mind and false society which leads to their despair and death.Salinger’s experience sets the tone and theme of his fiction. It also indicates Salinger’spsychological trauma at the same time.