A Study Of The Vietnam War’s Impacts On The U.s. From Trauma Perspective In Taxi Driver, Born On The Fourth Of July And The Deer Hunter

The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history and it was also the greatest war material consumption. The war not only led to numerous losses of the stuff and finance, but also a physical and psychological trauma to Americans. This thesis focuses on the effects of the Vietnam War on American civilians, soldiers and the policies in the United States and the trauma caused by the war. Three movies The Taxi Driver, Born On the Fourth of July and Deer Hunter about the Vietnam War are selected as texts and analyzed from the perspective of trauma theory.This thesis studies the three movies in the context of the Vietnam War as a collective, cultural, and war trauma. The thesis shows us the influence brought by the Vietnam War to the Americans through the analysis of these three movies with trauma theory. In China, little attention has been paid to the influence brought by the Vietnam War to the Americans in film studies.The scientific study of trauma could be dated back to the end of the 19 th century by some psychologists and Sigmund Freud is regarded as one of the most outstanding representatives. Trauma theory appeared in America in the early 1990 s and expounded the cultural and collective implications of trauma.This thesis contains five chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces the background of the Vietnam War, three Vietnam War movies and trauma theory. The second chapter analyzes the collective trauma represented by Travis’ suffering from the trauma caused by the war to the citizens. The third chapter studies the formation and symptoms of the cultural trauma represented by people like Ron in the movie and the changes brought by the Vietnam War to the American soldiers and the anti-war movement. The fourth chapter analyzes the war trauma experienced by soldiers like Nick and his friends in the U.S. The last chapter is the conclusion of this thesis.