In Search Of A Residence For Body And Soul

As the first American black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature,Toni Morrison(1931-)is now acclaimed as one of the most important and innovative contemporary novelists in the world.Morrison conveys her deep concern for the living condition and the psychological state of human beings in many of her masterpieces,among which God Help the Child(2015)is the representative one.Unlike the gloomy atmosphere in her other works,this novel presents a relatively brighter picture.In this novel,Morrison proposes possible ways of how some traumatized children may get out of their physical and psychological predicaments in the crisis-ridden society.There is no doubt that Morrison has gained more popularity among Chinese readers and scholars in recent years.However,scholars mainly focus on some of Morrison's early works such as The Bluest Eye(1970),Song of Solomon(1977)and Beloved(1987),while few of them pay attention to God Help the Child.So far,there is no Chinese version of God Help the Child.Very few academic researches based on this novel have been published.By analyzing the physical predicaments,psychological predicaments,and the salvation of the characters,this thesis intends to fill in the gap and promote the research of the growth of traumatized children.The novel mainly focuses on three characters: the brave,black young lady Bride,her depressed boyfriend Booker and her little white girlfriend Rain.These characters experience similar life courses.They grow up,but try not to get stuck in predicaments.With the combination of Donald Woods Winnicott's concept of transitional object and Judith Lewis Herman's trauma recovery theory,this thesis intends to make a deeper study of the novel.Besides the Introduction and Conclusion,this thesis consists of three chapters.The Introduction presents a brief sketch of Morrison's life experience as well as the primary plot of the novel.Then follows the detailed literature review of this novel.In addition,the theoretical framework and the significance in exploring the novel from the perspective of Winnicott's concept of transitional object and Herman's trauma recovery theory are elaborated in this section.Chapter One explores the physical predicaments of these three characters.Their bodies suffer injury in broken families and violent society.Bride bears the cross of being a dark skin girl,and she has experienced the abandonment of his father,the maltreatment of his mother and the hostility of strangers in society.Rain loses the control of her body,and she is forced to be a child prostitute by her biological mother and forced to be adopted by his adoptive parents.Booker was alienated by his family members and friends after his brother died of sexual abuse.They are stuck in the physical predicament of skin color,of physical abuse,of violence.Chapter Two probes into the representation and the root of psychological predicaments of the three characters in God Help the Child.They can be analyzed with the help of trauma theory.They suffer from traumatic events in both childhood and adulthood.Bride sustains the emotional neglect from her mother,and is abandoned by his boyfriend without any reason.As the witness of traumatic event,Booker suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.Rain not only needs to bear the bitterness of being a tool of making money for her mother,but also needs to sustain the isolation with no one to talk to.Due to the stimulation of the long-term influence of traumatic events and alienated relationships,the three characters finally bounce back,and commence the journey of salvation.Chapter Three analyzes the attempts and the final salvation of these three characters.At first,they tend to escape from their original families and gain comforts from transitional objects.Such attempts only alleviate their painful feelings in physical predicaments.Eventually,they get out of physical and psychological predicaments by establishing the sense of safety,remembering and mourning for the past traumatic experience and reconnect with the ordinary life.With the establishment of safety,the three gradually restore the control of their body and soul;moreover,they encounter beloved lover,genuine friend and also try to understand their relatives.Through the remembrance and mourning,they make peace with trauma and tolerate the traumatic past.By reconnecting with ordinary life they take pleasure in their lives and engage fully in relationships with others.Based on the analysis above,the Conclusion points out that the salvation of the three characters serves as a caution and an encouragement to children who might have been suffering physical and psychological predicaments.It symbolizes Morrison's prospect for the future of children.With the assistance of Winnicott's concept of transitional object and Herman's trauma recovery theory,this thesis intends to contribute a new perspective on Morrison's works,and it also holds certain practical value,which is to remind children who are involved in predicaments that the only way to achieve salvation is to confront the predicaments bravely with proper methods.