A Study On The Trauma Writing In Falling Man

Don DeLillo(1936-)is a well-known American novelist,playwright,and essayist.As a writer with a high sense of social responsibility,he has always been concerned about the social,political,and cultural crisis in the United States,and has reflected and re-examined major American historical events in many of his works.Falling Man is a novel about the 9/11 terrorist attacks,which focuses on the living conditions and emotional changes of an ordinary family in the United States after the attacks.It reproduces the impact of the event on Americans through its distinctive narrative techniques and artistic performance,and thus is claimed by Harvard Book Review to be"the representative work of 9/11 literature".As a classical 9/11 work,Falling Man is most obviously featured by its trauma writing.Based on the trauma theory,this thesis analyzes and studies the trauma writing in the novel through a close reading of the text.The thesis first introduces Don DeLillo’s life and his creative achievements,and outlines the main plot of Falling Man;next,it has a review of the current research status of the novel at home and abroad;then it sorts out the trauma theory as the theoretical framework of this thesis,trying to clarify the concepts and analysis methods related to the paper.Finally,the structure of the thesis is briefly introduced.Next,the thesis analyzes the trauma writing in Falling Man from three aspects.Firstly,it analyzes the trauma representation in the novel,which is mainly divided into the psychological trauma of the American people and the cultural trauma of American society.The main characters in the novel show the main symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,which is manifested as follows:1)repeated broken and harsh memories,2)emotional anesthesia and numbing response,3)persistent anxiety and heightened alertness.The attacks also have a profound impact on the group consciousness and social culture of American society,mainly crisis of spiritual belief and collective identity.Secondly,the thesis attempts to explore the social and cultural factors between the 9/1 1 attacks and the trauma and argues that the broken confidence and sense of superiority,shattered myth of "absolute mainland security",and the disillusioned myth about the "melting pot" caused by the attacks are the main reasons for the individual and social trauma.Finally,the thesis tries to analyze the methods of healing the trauma that the author expresses through the novel,respectively,speaking out about the trauma;retaining complete traumatic memories no matter how painful they are;paying attention to the analysis and thinking of the terrorist attacks and the trauma by artists and the learned.The 9/11 event is one of the most fatal terrorist attacks not only in the history of the United States but also in the history of mankind.After the disaster,this traumatic event has been deeply imprinted in the collective consciousness of the American people and become an indelible memory of American society.DeLillo,with his unique sensitivity,re-examines and rethinks the attacks and the trauma caused by them in Falling Man,and suggests effective ways out of the trauma.This trauma writing is helpful for readers to reflect on the trauma,provides spiritual comfort for people in despair,and thus provides the possibility to heal the trauma.