On The Love Theme Of Toni Morrison's Home In Light Of Trauma Theory

As the tenth novel written by Toni Morrison,Home has been heatedly discussed in terms of the destiny of the male and the female protagonists since its publication.Previous studies concentrate either on its interpretation in light of trauma theory or on the thematic exploration of the home,but there are rare studies from a combined approach of the two.The thesis will explore the close relations between protagonists' trauma causes,trauma symptoms,trauma recovery and their close relations to the topic of love in Home.It's aiming to justify that love is the theme of Home and that lack of love causes protagonists' traumatic syndromes and mutual love is the key to their recovery from traumatic symptoms.In the novel,characters' traumatic causes result from family abuse,racial discrimination,and the Korean War,which all result from the lack of love.Family abuse is a clear manifestation of lacking love in family members;racial discrimination reflects the lack of love between different races;The Korean War demonstrates the lack of love between countries.The lack of love leads to protagonists' traumatic symptoms including intrusion,hyperarousal,avoidance reaction,and failed recognition of self-value.Their recovery from traumatic events needs the love and care which can only come from the siblings and the members of black communities.In Home,Morrison's description of Cee and Frank's sufferings in American history is to remind readers to take the history as a mirror,expecting to establish a homeland with love rather than hatred among the people.