Trauma And Recovery In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou(1928-2014)is a well-known black female writer in contemporary American literature,whose first autobiographical novel,I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings(1969),has had a profound influence since it was published.Domestic and foreign scholars' researches on this novel mainly focus on its identity theme,writing characteristics,and black female images,but few scholars probe into the trauma theme of the novel.Therefore,in light of the trauma theory,this thesis sheds light on the trauma theme of this novel,including the trauma symptoms of protagonist Marguerite,the causes of trauma and the ways of trauma recovery.This thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter one introduces Maya Angelou and her works,literature review,the purpose and significance of the study and trauma theory.Chapter two summarizes the trauma symptoms of Marguerite through text analysis.Marguerite suffers from rape,family and race trauma.The symptoms of rape trauma are guilt and memory intrusion,both of whose long-term effects lead to her self-denial and self-doubt.Eventually,Marguerite loses female consciousness.The main symptom of family trauma is also memory intrusion of being abandoned.The paranoia of being a white girl is the symptom of race trauma.Chapter three examines the causes of Marguerite's trauma,mainly involving social and family reasons.As a girl,Marguerite is at the bottom of patriarchy society who undergoes severe class and gender discrimination,which is the root reason of her sexual assault.As a black,Marguerite inevitably suffers from racial discrimination and oppression,which result in her race trauma.The family reason is the divorce of her parents,which makes her feel abandoned and lack of belonging.Chapter four concludes the ways of Marguerite's trauma recovery.Firstly,after rebuilding psychological safety,Marguerite explores her particularity as a woman and proactively seduces a man to have sex with her.Marguerite no longer has the sense of selfdenial,instead she is aware that she is equal to man and she is not a passive object,but an active subject.Therefore,Marguerite's feminine consciousness completely awakens and her rape trauma restores.Then,in addition to the reestablishment of psychological safety,the recovery of family trauma much depends on her regaining the long-missing parental love from her mother and stepfather.Finally,under the combined influence of black community culture in the north and south,Marguerite regains racial pride and awareness,thus her race trauma recovers.The fifth chapter is a conclusion,in which this thesis indicates that it is common for the black women to suffer rape,family and race trauma.Marguerite is the representative of thousands of black women struggling in misery.Maya Angelou not only reveals the universal phenomenon,but more importantly,she encourages black women to face their traumas and find effective ways to achieve trauma recovery.Maya Angelou puts forward her own suggestions for the survival and development of black women even the entire black nation.Probing into the trauma theme of the novel not only enriches the studies of the novel,and deepens the understanding of Maya Angelou and this novel,but has guiding significance to the recovery of trauma patients.