In both Sophie Hardcastle's "Below Deck" and Sarah Polley's "Women Talking," trauma is intricately depicted as a pervasive force that changes the protagonists' lives and experiences, providing a major thematic bridge across their stories. Both works delve into the raw and often horrifying aftermath of terrible events, using vivid storytelling techniques and deep character reflection to show not only the immediate effects but also the lasting, long-term effects on the characters. In the novel “Below Deck,” Hardcastle characterises a young woman facing a silent and powerful wave of trauma. Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” discloses the collective suffering and numbness of a group of women in the remote and isolated Mennonite community. By incorporating trauma into their stories, both authors highlight the fundamental battle for healing and the …show more content…
Similarly, Sarah Polley explores trauma through imagery in one of the protagonists, Salome’s Confession “We know that we are bruised, and infected, pregnant, terrified, and insane, and some of us are dead”. This quote engagingly illustrates the physical and psychological wounds inflicted upon the women, showing that their trauma is so prominent, the characters are beginning to fall apart given their uncertainty. Both these quotes illustrate the use of imagery that triggers physical sensations to express the long-term effects of trauma. In "Below Deck," the recollection clings "like salt on my skin," providing a visceral, almost physical sensation of discomfort and tenacity. In "Women Talking," the ladies describe themselves as "bruised and infected," which depicts their physical pain and the enduring ramifications of their
Diane Urban, for instance, was one of the many people who were trapped inside this horror. She “was comforting a woman propped against a wall, her legs virtually amputated” (96). Flynn and Dwyer appeal to the reader’s ethical conscience and emotions by providing a story of a victim who went through many tragedies. Causing readers to feel empathy for the victims. In addition, you began to put yourself in their shoes and wonder what you would do.
The concept of displacement from rape in “Woman Thou Art Loosed” and “Mississippi Damned” is represented by mental distortion, trauma, and self-degradation.
The short stories, “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes” by Fritz Lieber, “Bits and Pieces,” by Lisa Tuttle, “While She Was Out” by Edward Bryant, “Cold Turkey” by Carole Nelson Douglas, and “Lightning Rod” by Melanie Tem Historically, in literature, women are stereotypically placed in one of two roles, the doting wife and beloved mother, or the more outwardly psychotic, witch-like, temptress. As the feminist approach to the criticism of literature has blossomed over time, the need for empowered female characters has surfaced. To rectify the absence of this character, “wild women literature” has made many advances in the defiance of gender role stereotypes and gender norms. The women in the collection of wild women short stories are difficult to define because of society’s pre-conceived notions of how women should and do behave. The term “wild women” conveys a slightly negative and sometimes misinterpreted connotation of a woman’s behavior; however, in this collection of stories, the female characters are generally vindicated because of the motivation behind their actions. The motivation can be linked to the popular cultural phenomenon of women taking charge of their lives, making decisions for themselves, being independent, rising above their oppressors (most commonly the close men in their lives), and becoming empowered. Vigilante actions by the wild women in these stories are not entirely representative of madness, but also re...
While this is happening, she begins to lose strength that she once had before and away she is trapped inside her own mind. With physical harm, individuals outside the relationship can notice the bumps and bruises on the skin. Alma, a young mother of three pre-teen girls, describes her personal experience with emotional abuse as, “I was very restricted. He wouldn’t allow me to contact my mom.my family, my friends. After I had my daughter, I wasn’t allowed to go to the doctor.
Freud’s approach trauma is based in the treatment of hysteria. According to Ringel and Brandell, Freud and Breuer, considered an “external event” as responsible of determining hysterical symptoms. The common component between hysteria and trauma is the outcome of fright. Freud and Breuer emphasis the importance of cathartic experience as a way of decreasing or vanishing the effect. The “cathartic method” that was developed by Breuer, assisted to release of inhibited emotions. Freud believed that the libido, necessary to be relished for the symptoms to be improved (p. 43).
Trauma can impact someone’s life to where they can’t make connections with anyone. Even connecting with family it would be hard.Trauma changes the way they see the world and other people. In both Good Will Hunting and The Catcher in the Rye, Will and Holden go through traumatic events that change their lives. This makes them see everything negatively and impacts their ability to cope.
Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key, though speaking about a particularly touchy subject, identifies feminist/ gender equality through a series of historical hardships that many had endured during the Holocaust. Keeping this in mind, Sarah’s Key is used for Mrs. Rosnay’s approval of the advances of feminism, and how women were limited by a low glass ceiling.
Writing based on their own experiences, had it not been for the works of Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and similar feminist authors of their time, we may not have seen a reform movement to improve gender roles in a culture in which women had been overshadowed by men. In The Story of an Hour, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a young woman with a heart condition who learns of her husband’s untimely death in a railroad disaster. Instinctively weeping, as any woman is expected to do upon learning of her husband’s death, she retires to her room to be left alone so she may collect her thoughts. However, the thoughts she collects are somewhat unexpected. Louise is conflicted with the feelings and emotions that are “approaching to possess her.”
The publication of The Round House by Louise Erdrich serves as a literary feat and national victory for sexual assault survivors and activists through the author 's realistic depiction and exploration into the brutal effects that domestic violence has on a victim, family, and community. In The Round House, Geraldine 's traumatic assault during the summer of 1988 is not to be treated as an isolated incident, but a common occurrence that has affected millions of Americans and evolved into a national domestic violence crisis. The lasting emotional, mental, and relational effect of sexual assault and trauma are critical matters that are rarely explicated in modern literature, much
Although these stereotypes are horrific, they are the harrowing reality women face every day. Kincaid uses repetitive details to critique women’s role in society. These repetitive details, a subset of realistic details, illuminate social issues. Likewise, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper” and Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” employ realistic details to convey social critiques.
Though it is well-known that rape is an awful experience for someone, people’s thoughts regarding the actual effects and negative results it produces do not go beyond this broad assumption of rape being a horrible action. Margaret Atwood recognizes this and takes a different approach on informing society about specific effects rape can have on an individual. Through her short story “Stone Mattress,” Atwood covers these topics in a subtle manner where the information better relates to the reader whereas bombarding them with it. Her topics confronting rape and its repercussion that seem to only affect the victim are the focal points of the story, but Atwood includes other elements of fiction to draw the reader in and captivate their attention.
She continues in this sequel to talk about the abuse she faced and the dysfunction that surrounded her life as a child and as a teen, and the ‘empty space’ in which she lived in as a result. She talks about the multiple personalities she was exhibiting, the rebellious “Willie” and the kind “Carol”; as well as hearing noises and her sensory problems. In this book, the author puts more emphasis on the “consciousness” and “awareness” and how important that was for her therapeutic process. She could not just be on “auto-pilot” and act normal; the road to recovery was filled with self-awareness and the need to process all the pieces of the puzzle—often with the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She had a need to analyze the abstract concept of emotions as well as feelings and thoughts. Connecting with others who go through what she did was also integral to her
Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber,” is a visually intricate and feminist text; this feminism is portrayed through gender roles. The narrator is a young child who transitions into a woman searching for identity, and her husband’s masculine power defines it. In other words, this short story depicts gender roles and personal identity through the use of objectification of women. The deeper meaning behind the roles the men and women have may reflect Carter’s deconstruction of gender norms. The narrator enables the deconstruction by acting as a link; she conjoins two opposing ideas, like masculinity and femininity. These two opposing ideas create the deconstruction of gender norms that Carter elaborates on throughout her short story.
Allowing readers to glimpse her own story as she painfully evaluates her role as mother side by side with historical accounts of other women's experiences provides an avenue for understanding that leads to compassion. By the final chapter, instead of falling into the expected trap of revulsion toward Joanne Michulski's heinous crime, Rich's empathy provides the reader with the insight to realize both the complexity of Michulski's situation and to feel comp...
Moglen, Helene. The Trauma of Gender: A Feminist Theory of the English Novel. Los Angeles, CA: U of California P, 2001.