Trauma and Literature: Process Log 03

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Headers

• Chirag Mehta
• Trauma and Literature
• Prof. Martin J. Gliserman
• 11 Feb. 2003

Trauma and Literature: Process Log 03

Effects of trauma (highlight on characters in Beloved):

Herman's discussion on the 'social judgment of chronically traumatized people' (115) runs parallel to Sethe's treatment in Beloved. After suffering the trauma of infanticide, imprisonment, death (of Baby Suggs), and above all social banishment, Sethe continues to strive hard to support her daughter Denver, playing the role of a survivor who was 'treated more harshly than those who abused' her. Her approach of handling her trauma was to simply live her life one day at a time, pretending as if nothing had happened. That is how she thought she could deal with it. Paul D on the other hand, became a vagabond, walking across the country for almost two decades before he took residence at 124.

One of the most interesting characters in the story is Stamp Paid. Having to give up one's wife to his master's son for sexual gratification is a shame no man would want to live with. However, upon his wife's request Stamp Paid resolves to live, as if nothing had happened. Why the society expects a traumatized victim to continue living pretentiously is a sad mystery. Stamp Paid's grief turned him into a selfless saint, who would go to great lengths for the good of all. While he might have been a good person before too, but after leaving his wife, he took it upon himself to provide every Negro with a shelter and food.

His approach can be compared to that of the survivors of child abuse, as described by Herman: "Many survivors are terribly afraid that their children will suffer a fate similar to their own, and they go to great lengths to prevent this from happening." While a few become abusers themselves as they try to reenact their past and embrace the role of the perpetrator, the majority of child abuse survivors still remember the torments inflicted upon them and feel it is their duty to protect their children from such acts. Trauma indeed affects everyone differently. From Sethe's persistent delusions of Beloved to Denver's resentment at Paul D on his arrival, trauma shapes the victims character like no prep-school can.