The Trauma Motif In Purple Hibiscus And Half Of A Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie(1977-),a Nigerian-born female writer of the new generation,has a strong sense of social and historical responsibility.She always keeps a sharp eye on the problems that beset her country for decades and her works are filled with realistic and humanistic concern.Her debut novel Purple Hibiscus(2003)and her sequential novel Half of a Yellow Sun(2007)are the best illustrations of her literary intention.Both set in the post-independent Nigerian society,the two novels share some similarities in their representation of the trauma motif.At present,studies on the trauma motif in both novels are insufficient and an in-depth and systematic research still needs to be carried out.The author of this thesis applies the trauma theory to analyze in detail the main characters’ traumatic causes,traumatic symptoms,and their working-through of trauma.A comparative study of the trauma writings between the two novels sheds light on Adichie’s changes in her writing motive.This thesis argues that the trauma caused by domestic violence of Kambili,Beatrice and Jaja and the political trauma of Eugene presented in Purple Hibiscus,the war trauma of Olanna,Richard and Ugwu presented in Half of a Yellow Sun and the main traumatic symptoms they show including dissociation and post-traumatic stress disorder bring out the traumatic history of Nigerians,and Africans at a larger context,which deepens readers’ understanding of Africans’ reality and sufferings.The trauma writing about collective trauma caused by colonization,which is manifested through cultural and political aspects respectively in the two novels reveals Adichie’s rational attitude towards colonization.The main characters in both novels struggle to cope with their trauma through trauma narrative and female bonding,which illustrates Adichie’s humanistic concern about Nigerians and even Africans struggling to walk out of their predicament.Although it remains ambiguous that whether the main characters such as Kambili and Olanna recover from their trauma or not,Adichie rejects assertive endings to Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun,which may connote her idea to tell readers that Africa still has a long way to go before it gets rid of its shadow and trauma rooted in history.In addition,through a comparative study,the author of this thesis also finds out that from Purple Hibiscus to Half of a Yellow Sun,Adichie continues probing into main characters’ individual traumatic experiences and ultimately reflecting national and collective trauma.Meanwhile,the comparative study also sheds light on Adichie’s changes in narrative strategies and writing motive.Adichie attempts to challenge the “single story”,to change stereotype of Africans and to repair Africans’ broken dignity through innovative writing techniques including multiple narrative voices and an embedded book.