A Comparative Study Of Of Human Bondage And Ordinary World From The Perspective Of Trauma Theory

Of Human Bondage?1915?is an autobiographical novel written by the British novelist William Somerset Maugham?1874-1965?who is highly acclaimed for his literary achievements.The novel tells about the story of Philip Carey,an orphan suffering from lameness,who experiences various setbacks and puzzlement in his life yet still fights on unremittingly.Ordinary World?1986?is the most representative work of the contemporary Chinese writer Lu Yao?1949-1992?which has won Mao Dun Literary Prize in 1991.In the novel,Sun Shaoping works hard and shows indomitable will when faced with physical sufferings and spiritual pains which he experiences in self-struggle in the period of great social transformations.The two novels contain stories that take place at different times and in different countries,with Of Human Bondage set in England at the beginning of the 20^th century when Britain is in its transition from the Victorian era to the Edwardian era,and Ordinary World set in China at the turn of 1980s when China is in the early stage of reform and opening up.In spite of that,both works have similarities that deserve attentive studies.First,the two novels are both realistic works.Second,the personal growth,family changes and social changes that these novels try to convey are set in the important historical periods of transition,with the social transformations affecting people's life and minds to a great extent.Taking place against such a kind of background,the initiation of the protagonists in the two novels is accompanied by the chances of confronting traumas that appear once and again in each of their life experiences.Based on trauma theory,this thesis takes Of Human Bondage and Ordinary World as the object of study,trying to analyze the three types of responses to trauma on the part of the two protagonists,the reasons of their responses and their recovery from traumas.As a critical approach applied in literary criticism in recent years,trauma theory mainly deals with holocaust and war literature and is seldom used to analyze the traumatic experiences in the social activities of ordinary people.In the time of peace,one cannot empathize with the traumas of the people who experience war or holocaust,but he may find it easy to relate to the sense of trauma brought about by different social events.In addition,everyone has a different life and goes through different changes.Individual differences lead to different experiences in confronting traumas.People may become strong-minded or may be brought down into gloom and some minor psychological traumas,and even obvious trifles may appear to be heavy blows.With the help of trauma theory,it can be made clear how the protagonists in the two novels deal with traumas and how the mechanism of recovery is brought to light.The thesis takes the traumatic experiences of the protagonists in Of Human Bondage and Ordinary World into study by analyzing three types of their responses to trauma.The first type is silence in face of trauma.In Of Human Bondage,Philip's numbness as traumatic symptom is analyzed that influences his later development in character-forming and social interactions.In Ordinary World,Sun Shaoping suffers from hunger and poverty but still holds on to serenity when facing those hardships.It influences his character and he becomes sensitive.The second type is normal response to trauma.In Of Human Bondage,Philip becomes helpless when he experiences loss of belief and money.He chooses reading as his way to carry out resistance to trauma.In Ordinary World,Sun Shaoping first converts his mind with escapism and finally he reconciles with himself.The third type is radical response to trauma.In Of Human Bondage,Philip appears in slight Borderline Personality Disorder when he is betrayed repeatedly.In Ordinary World,Sun Shaoping meets aliens after the sudden death of his girlfriend.Both of them recover from radical responses with the care of others.Through the comparative analysis of the two literary texts,the thesis finds that although Philip and Sun Shaoping have to deal with different setbacks,the traumas brought about by those setbacks have different effects on them.Yet,they are similar in the process of recovery.On the one hand,Philip and Sun Shaoping receive help from others;on the other hand,they can positively adjust themselves to their state and try to overcome most of the traumas in their lives.