Trauma And Trauma Narrative In God Help The Child

As the first female African-American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature,Toni Morrison gains a world fame and occupies a very important position in contemporary American literature.Characterized by her elegant writing style and unique perspective,her works have many distinctive features and stand out in American literature.Throughout Morrison's previous works,it's easy to find trauma has become one of the most important themes of her novels.By the vivid and deep description of historical course and living conditions of African Americans,Toni Morrison presents the suffering and trauma of African Americans,expresses their desire for equality and also shows her deep concern for the black community.In her latest work God Help the Child,Toni Morrison continued the trauma theme in her previous works.In this novel,Morrison set the contemporary US society as the background.Through the narratives from different narrators,Morrison described the traumatic experiences of characters of all colors,revealed the various problems in contemporary American society,presented the impact of dark skin on family relationship and personal life,displayed the harm of sexual violence done to children and demonstrated the remedial function of narrative to work through trauma and achieve the freedom and peace of mind.Since its publication in 2015,scholars both abroad and in China has explored the maternal love,skin color,race,trauma and other themes of this novel from different perspectives.Their studies probed into the deep connotation of this novel,enriched the research of Toni Morrison's works and also presented their reflection on race and love.Based on the existing studies,this thesis intends to explore trauma and trauma narrative in God Help the Child.From the level of narrative content,this thesis reveals the main causes of trauma: colorism,child molestation and family relationship,discusses the significance of narration for the trauma healing through the analysis of the traumatic events,symptoms and recovery of Bride,Booker and Rain.From the level of narrative techniques,this thesis analyzes the great significance of skillful narrative strategies to represent characters' traumatic experience and enhance the themes through the employment of non-linear narrative,multiple narratives,magic realism and other techniques.Interpreting the profound meaning of this novel with trauma theory,this thesis discloses the severe harm caused by colorism,violence and other social problems in contemporary America,analyzes the importance of narration and love to work though trauma and presents Morrison's excellent writing skills and her deep concern for human race.