Trauma And The Use Of Symbols In Everything I Never Told You

Celeste Ng has risen to stardom as one of the most successful Chinese American writers whose literary work Everything I Never Told You contributed to the global recognition since its publication.Her narratives portray traumatic incidences and powerful observations resulting from racial barriers,gender discrimination,the burdens of familial expectations,and the fundamental quest of belonging of the human race.Ng's narratives reveal an interracial family living in the 1970s' America,plagued by delicately interwoven secrets and misunderstandings that ultimately yield an unfortunate tragedy.This thesis uses the trauma theory to analyze traumatic experiences that the main characters suffer in this novel,especially the trans-generational trauma suffered by Lydia,and to reveal the impact of family trauma,historical and racial trauma has on the next generation.In addition,the relationship between symbols employed in this novel and the traumatic theme of this novel will be discussed.Finally,the reconstruction of family relationship and trauma recovery will be addressed.It is unfortunate that traumatic experiences cannot be erased.The characters in this novel are constantly searching for their true identities in the marginalized situation and trying to get rid of their undesirable past experiences.Through giving different symbolic meaning of daily life objects and events in the novel,Celeste Ng not only tries to record and represent the lives of the minority groups but to appeal to people to solve those social issues frequently encountered by any marginalized group,and also to raise public awareness of minority groups to a wider perspective.