Traumatic Memory Approach To Bess’ Identity Crisis And Reconstruction In Hiding Place

The issue of identity has been a main concern of African American writers for a long time. As a distinguished African American writer in the latter half of the twentieth century, John Edgar Wideman writes many works focusing on African Americans’identities. Hiding place, the second work in Homewood Trilogy, is mainly about African Americans’ identity crisis and identity reconstruction. Having suffered from the past trauma, many African Americans have difficulty in constructing identities. In this work, Wideman discloses the situation of these people and provides advice on their identity reconstruction.As the main character in Hiding Place, Bess represents those African Americans who have been traumatized in the past and in the present. By describing Bess’current condition and attitude toward life, Wideman discloses her identity crisis which is a general problem of many African Americans.This thesis uses trauma theory to explore manifestation and causes" of Mother Bess’identity crisis, and analyzes Bess’strategies of identity reconstruction. The manifestation of Bess’identity crisis is shown in the first chapter. Her complete isolation from the outside world is presented from geographical and psychological aspects. Bess lives alone on the hill and refuses to communicate with others. Bess’ denial of her own value is regarded as the other manifestation of her identity crisis. In Bess’opinion, her existence is meaningless toward the society.Then the thesis traces the reasons for Bess’identity crisis from the perspective of trauma. In the beginning, Bess’individual trauma is studied since there are several serious traumatic events in her life. Then this chapter probes into Bess’collective trauma to figure out why she has been in identity crisis.The third chapter explores how Bess reconstructs her identity as an African American. Retelling traumatic memories is the first step for traumatized people to recover. After retelling her traumatic memories, she is not haunted by them any more. Stimulated by others, Bess gains enough power to face the traumatized past, which is her second strategy. Reconnecting with the outside is another important strategy of Bess’ identity reconstruction. Bess’decision to go down the hill means she will reconnect herself with other people, the society and the future.Through analyzing Bess’change from identity crisis to identity reconstruction, this thesis attempts to point out Wideman’s intention implied in Hiding Place. According to Wideman, African Americans need to realize the importance of their identities. Only when African Americans walk through the trauma and find their value towards the race can they reconstruct their identities.