A Study Of The Trauma And The Recovery In Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan(1962-)is one of the most influential contemporary writers in the United States.Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in2011.Set against the rise and fall of punk rock music,the novel tells the stories of a group of rock & roll musicians.The protagonists show strong mental anxiety and depression when they face the unreachable dreams,the passing passion,love and friendship.However,they persist in pursuing their goals despite frustrations.This thesis explores the traumatic symptoms,causes and the recovery of the two protagonists in A Visit from the Goon Squad by the trauma theory of Judith Lewis Herman.According to Herman,trauma recovery includes the establishment of safety,the remembrance and mourning and the re-connection.The main body of this thesis consists of three parts.The first part analyzes Sasha's kleptomania.Firstly,the symptoms of Sasha's kleptomania are analyzed,and secondly,the causes of Sasha's kleptomania are revealed from three aspects: child abuse in Sasha's childhood,her non-traditional patterns of marriage and the effect of the “9·11” terrorist attack.The second part focuses on Bennie's voyeurism.Firstly,the symptoms of Bennie's voyeurism will be presented,and then three causes for Bennie's illness are revealed: the constantly digitized music,Bennie's broken marriage and the discrimination from other people.The third part focuses on the recovery of their trauma respectively.By retelling her traumatic experience and establishing a new connection with reality,Sasha gradually recovers from kleptomania.Bennie tries to get rid of voyeurism by writing and mourning his rock music career after experiencing a low period in life.At last,Bennie enjoys a successful music career and a happy family.By describing the great efforts make by the two protagonists in getting rid of their traumas,Egan shows the infinite tenacity and perseverance of modern people.