On The Traumatic Narration Between The Character Narrator Frank And The Omniscient Narrator In Home

Home(2012) is the tenth novel of contemporary African American writer Toni Morrison, which is hailed as the shared home for her previous works, for it encapsulates her entire oeuvre and all the themes in her fiction. Home’s widely acclaimed applause not only relies on its epitome of her various works, but also depends on its attention to the Korean War in infertile area of American Literature and focalizes on the traumatized black male survivor among African Americans as well. The story is set against the 1950 s in the United States. The protagonist Frank is a survivor from the Korean War. What’s worse, his traumas are blended with family trauma, racial trauma and war trauma. Simultaneously, he is also the character narrator in the story. Besides, his narration challenges the omniscient narrative of the third person narrator, which shows the conspicuous features of post narrative theory. Under the intricate fabrication of the implied author, the traumatic narration between the character narrator Frank and the omniscient narrator shuffles between the 1930 s and the 1950 s swiftly. With the progress of their traumatic narration, the character narrator Frank reaches an agreement with the omniscient narrator eventually.This thesis applies the theory of trauma narrative to explore the traumatic narration between the character narrator Frank and the omniscient narrator in Home. In this thesis, the traumatic narration not only is the manifestation of the trauma narrative in the novel, but also provides the opportunity for the interactive relation between the character narrator Frank and the omniscient narrator.The thesis includes three chapters which expound the antagonism, negotiation and agreement in the traumatic narration respectively. The first chapter explains the character narrator Frank’s contradiction in the narration of the dysfunctional home, his refutation to the omniscient narrator in the narration of racial persecution and his avoidance in retelling the Korean War trauma to the omniscient narrator. It shows that the rupture of Frank’s original relationship results in his the loss of the sense of trust, which leads to his antagonism towards the receptive omniscient narrator. The second chapter interprets the asymmetric narration between the character narrator Frank and the omniscient narrator in the narration of the absence of parental love, their respective stances in the narration of the marginalized community and Frank’s misreporting his confused identity in the Korean War to the omniscient narrator. It shows that the unexpected meeting with true love Lily initiates Frank’s reconnection with the outside world in a trial so as to initiate the negotiation between him and the cooperative omniscient narrator. The third chapter elaborates the character narrator Frank’s acceptance of the omniscient narrator’s narration of the absence of parental love, his approval of the omniscient narrator’s narration of the truth behind community, and his confession of what crime he committed in the Korean War. It is the sibling kinship that contributes to Frank’s reconnection with the outside world successfully. Correspondingly, the character narrator Frank starts to confess his crime to the persuasive omniscient narrator and to trust him.By exploring the traumatic narration between the character narrator and the omniscient narrator, the thesis argues that Morrison aims at exposing history and writing trauma by creating the novel. Faced with traumas, except avoidance, what people could do and should do is to face and encounter them bravely so as to initiate trauma therapy. Home displays Morrison’s expectation for those African Americans and her hope to them more or less. With the progress of traumatic narration, Frank takes full of courage to encounter his traumas finally.