Forgiving, Loving, And Recovering

As one of the most productive writers in the contemporary British literary community, Ian McEwan is famous for his wide writing range and diverse perspectives. Saturday, published in 2005, is the ninth fiction of McEwan, also the earliest literary work that takes the post-9·11 issue as its subject. Set on February 15 th, 2003, an actual day when the anti- war camp in Britain moved onto the streets to denounce the impending war in Iraq, Saturday is a day-in-the-life narrative that records the protagonist’s life from the early hours of Saturday morning to the dawn of Sunday. This novel vividly describes the indelible aftermath of 9/11 in western society. This thesis, based on Judith Herman’s theory of trauma and recovery, combining the characteristics of the novel, analyzes the trauma experiences and their recovery of the main characters in this novel.This thesis consists of five parts.The introduction briefly introduces McEwan’s life and major works, as well as the connected studies and critics on his works both at home and abroad, especially on Saturday. Then it analyzes the trauma theory that involved in the thesis and the significance of this study.The first chapter explores the traumatic symptom and its impact on each main characters in details. The first part narrates Londoners, who are shrouded in suspicions about terrorism and the threat of war, are occupied by anxiety and restlessness, especially the protagonist Perowne. When he accidentally saw an afire aircraft in the sky, he consequently relates it to the earlier terrorist attack in the United States, and suffers spiritual turmoil of restless mood the whole day.Chapter two interprets the different choices and solutions made by each main character. When facing the street violence caused by Baxter, Perowne shows his calmness, wit, and indomitable spirit. Professor Taleb, whose heart is still fluttering with fear, narrowly survived from the hellish past, once he beard an irrational resentment, as time goes by, he finally relived and blended the new environment. Being at the crisis of Baxter’s house invasion, the Perownes reveal their solidarity and mutual love, calmness, as well as bravery and decisiveness. These set them up for recovery.Chapter three first elaborates the cause of the current terrorism, and comes up with its solution from the author’ s point of view. In the second part of this chapter, the author interprets the main character’s final recovery from the trauma.The last part is the conclusion. As a literary creator with a strong sense of social responsibility, Ian McEwan pointed out that under such an ever-changing situation where the war and the terrorist attack are always in waiting, a brave confrontation is the only way to solute the lingering shadow brought by trauma. Furthermore, if people want to get rid of the aftermath of trauma and step into the future, they should take love and forgiveness as their methods, at the same time, to settle the religious oppositions and culture disputes between nations, the world needs tolerance and trust.