Theodore's Trauma And Recovery In The Goldfinch

As the winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for fiction with only three novels up till now,American novelist Donna Tartt(1967-)triumphs in portraying a touching story about a young boy Theodore's journey to the recovery of his psychological traumas in The Goldfinch.Considering the fact that there has been few scholars who try to discuss the novel with the theme of trauma,the thesis with whole five parts embarks on a close analysis of Theodore's traumas by analyzing factors contributing to his traumas,his traumatic symptoms and how he steps out of the deep recesses of his trauma from the trauma and recovery theory.Concerning the causes of Theodore's trauma,the thesis focuses its attention on the analyses of two aspects: the great shock from the terrorist bombing which takes away his mother's life and the long-term indifference from his father.The great sense of compunction by attributing his mother's death to his own fault leaves him under the shadow of the bombing affairs memories.The indifference and coldness from his father makes him feel great sense of pity,resulting in the long-term lack of familial affection.Theodore's traumatic symptoms are embodied in his behaviors of flashbacks of traumatic memories and hallucinations in his dreams about the bombing in the museum.Alternated with these symptoms is his lack of safety.In order to escape these traumatic memories,he chooses to avoid them.By analyzing Theodore's traumatic healing process in The Goldfinch,the thesis concludes that three ways are indispensable in curing his traumas.The first one rivets on the reconnection with other people.The thesis deems that Hobie makes up for the loss of his father and Boris helps him regain true friendship,both of whom contribute to the establishment of Theodore's sense of safety.It is Pippa that helps him find the lost anima and helps him externalize his traumatic symptoms by telling the traumatic stories in great depth.With the retelling of the traumatic stories in the museum,he triumphs in remembrance and mourning and gradually putting down high sense of compunction.The last one relates the function of the art in curing one's trauma in The Goldfinch,which just differs from other traumatic novels.The protagonist Theodore's road to his recovery of his trauma in The Goldfinch shows Donna Tartt's concern for the youth's living environment and meditation on the salvation of art on life.