The Representation Of Irish Women And Children's Trauma In The Gathering

The Gathering written by Anne Enright,one of the most famous novelists in contemporary Ireland,won the Man Booker Prize in 2007.During the late 1990 s and early 2000 s,with the successive scandals of abuse in the public institutions in Irish modern history,Irish people are mired in shock and grief.Under such context,The Gathering has its profound realistic significance.Narrated by the 39-year-old protagonist Veronica Hegarty from the first-person perspective,the novel begins with Veronica's arrangement for her suicidal brother Liam's funeral.Suffering from bereavement,Veronica attempts to unearth the root of Liam's tragedy by looking back into her childhood and family history.Together with the unfolding of the nine-year-old Liam being sexually abused by the landlord Nugent at grandmother Ada's house,Veronica's own traumatic past and crumbling present life are also revealed.This thesis carries out a close textual analysis on the causes of Veronica's psychological trauma,Veronica's passive responses to trauma and her successful efforts in working it through with the theories raised by the trauma theorists as Judith Herman and Bessel van der Kolk.By situating the novel in the Irish political and religious context,the thesis intends to present Irish children and women's traumatic experiences in the 20 th century and feasible ways for individuals to recover from trauma.By portraying the protagonist Veronica,who feels helpless and valueless in the face of the oppression and cruelty against women and children,the novelist Anne Enright gives a true representation of the Irish women and children's trauma caused by Irish national ideology and Catholics in the last century.She also points out that for either individuals or the whole Irish society,in order to transcend traumatic pains,it is necessary to clarify accountability by looking back into history and see the possibility of change in the present life and the next generation.