Trauma And Recovery In Ian Mcewan's Saturday

Ian McEwan(1948—),as an influential writer in the British literary world,whose works involve diverse perspectives and rich themes,has won lots of literary awards.McEwan is good at describing the discomposure,fear and traumas exist in modem humanities with sharp and cold expression,but they are infinitely reflecting the contradictory social reality and person's nervous minds.Published in 2005,Saturday is one of the most influential fictions in the field of post 9/11 literary works.As McEwan's ninth novel,it takes 9/11 terrorist attack and the upcoming Iraq war as the background.Through the protagonist—Henry Perowne's unusual Saturday experience,the story vividly presents to readers a world filled with crisis and traumas which are caused by terrorist attacks to western countries and people.Through analyzing the traumatic symptoms,performance and recovery procedures of the main characters,this thesis tries to admonish people to get rid of traumatic shadows in their hearts with love and forgiveness.This thesis analyses the main characters' traumas and recoveries from traumatic perspective.The introduction gives a brief account of Ian McEwan and his major creations,literature review,the researching motivation,questions and significance are also proved.The first chapter expounds development of trauma theory and the relevance to Saturday.The second chapter mainly explains Perowne's and his family members' traumatic symptoms.The third chapter shows each main character's recovery from trauma.The conclusion part discusses the contemporary international situation which is complicated and chaotic,terrorism and wars having become increasingly fierce.With the developments in this novel,on one hand,McEwan exhorts readers to live bravely when they experience the various negative emotions brought by traumas,on the other hand,he shows his worry to this world.Multivariate opposition including religions,science,and culture have made the world a frightening place.What human beings need are care and forgiveness,which can make this chaotic world more peaceful.