Xuan Mai’s Trauma and Recovery

An important aspect of Dana Sach’s “if you lived here” is the trauma and recovery that characters like Xuan Mai go through. Trauma results from an event that is overwhelming to the person and causes symptoms that are a response to the trauma. Recovery is when the life narrative is pieced back together so that the trauma is, “part of the learning curve of the life narrative.” (Herman) The trauma and recovery of characters like Xuan Mai is important because the stage that the character is undergoing impacts their actions and attitudes toward key events in the novel. This is evident in how Xuan Mai’s attitude toward Shelley’s adoption of Hai Au changes based on what stage of trauma and recovery that she is in.

The origin of trauma is an event that, “overwhelm the ordinary human adaptation to life” (Herman). The origin of Xuan Mai’s trauma comes from the death of her niece, My Hoa. Mai had been at the park with My Hoa and her boyfriend, Khoi. Khoi was getting ready to leave Vietnam to go to America and Mai was staying in Vietnam so, while My Hoa is sleeping near the shore of the lake, Mai and Khoi began kissing and said goodbye. While Mai and Khoi were kissing, they were so occupied with each other that they became unaware of their surroundings. So, Mai and Khoi did not notice when My Hoa woke up and went into the lake unsupervised so My Hoa drowned.

The symptoms of trauma are hyperarousal, intrusion, and constriction. The symptoms of trauma are, “attempts to … prevent another traumatic experience like the last.” (Herman) Hyperarousal is a, “persistent expectation of danger” (Herman). Mai’s hyperarousal is comprised of her avoidance of anything related to Vietnam and thus could remind her of My Hoa. A specific example of Mai’s hyper...

... middle of paper ...

...ion, and constriction. Mai goes through all of the stages of recovery including establishing safety, reconstructing the trauma, and reconnecting. Mai’s trauma and recovery impacts how she feels about Shelley’s desire to adopt Hai Au in that, as Mai recovers, Mai becomes more supportive and does more to help Shelley to achieve her dream. Mai’s trauma and recovery is important because it impacts her attitudes and actions toward key events like Shelley’s desire to adopt Hai Au.

Works Cited

Braun, Bennett G., M.D. "The BASK Model of Dissociation." DISSOCIATION 1.1 (1988): 4-23. Scholars' Bank. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. .

Herman, Judith Lewis, M.D. Trauma and Recovery. New York, NY: Basic, 1992. Print.

Sachs, Dana. If You Lived Here. New York: William Morrow, 2007. Print.