A Thematic Study Of Trauma In Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin

The Blind Assassin,which won the Booker Prize in 2000,is the tenth novel of one of the most famous contemporary Canadian writer Margaret Atwood.Many scholars have made analyses of the novel from various perspectives,such as narratology,feminism,and postmodernism,but few scholars so far have studied the novel from trauma theory.By depicting a group of traumatized characters,The Blind Assassin is a typical novel that embodies trauma theme.Based on trauma theory,the thesis tries to reveal the trauma theme implied in The Blind Assassin from the following three aspects: war trauma,women’s trauma,and efforts made by characters in order to recover from trauma.The thesis first describes the various symptoms of war trauma displayed by the protagonist Noval,such as violence and nightmares,alcoholism and flashbacks,as well as the impacts of the war trauma on Noval’s family.Secondly,the thesis explores the trauma suffered by two women characters Iris and Laura,pointing out that their miserable childhood,physical and mental oppression of men,and death of their beloved are the causes of their trauma.Finally,the thesis discusses the efforts made by Noval and Iris to recover from trauma and the different results due to their different choices.Noval’s committing suicide indicates that he can not get over the shadow of the trauma and feel despair of life;while Iris faces life in a positive way,trying hard to recover from trauma.By digging into the traumas of the main characters,this thesis elaborates the theme of trauma of the novel,from which we can see Atwood’s deep humanistic concern for human beings.In The Blind Assassin,Atwood uses her literary power to criticize the cruelty of war and the patriarchy oppression of women.She also inspires the traumatized people to face trauma bravely,regaining confidence and courage in life.