英语论文网

points out thatMorrison doesn’t write chronologically and indicates that Morrison tells a miserable storyand returns to the cruel history by flexibly using flashbacks and memories.Tim Spaulding(2005),in Re-forming the Past:History,the fantastic,and the Postmodern Slave Narrative,discusses the way the original slave narratives are used in the sentimental novel,captivitynarratives as well as the spiritual autobiographies and concludes that Morrison bases muchof her novel,Beloved on the gothic style but still relies on earlier patterning.In MixedGenres and the Logic of Slavery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved,Carl Malmgren(1995)believes the novel is unusually hybridized with part ghost story,part historical novel,partslave narrative and part love story.

Chapter Two Symptoms of Psychological Trauma of AfricanAmerican Wome

2.1 Hyperarousal

Under slavery,black female slaves were reduced to animals in the eyes of their whitemasters.Sethe could not escape such fate,either.The grown-up slave owners treated her asa cow and directly sucked the milk from her breast.According to Herman,traumatic eventscan“destroy the victim’s fundamental assumptions about the safety of the world,thepositive value of the self,and the meaningful order of creation”(Herman,1992:51).To putit in another way,slave masters’audacious act contributed to Sethe’s hyperarousal,whichwas mainly manifested in her over-alertness to the external stimuli,her abnormal behavioras well as her overprotection of her young daughter.

2.1.1 Over-alertness to External Stimuli

The barefaced act of the slave owners completely destroyed Sethe’s inherent sense ofsecurity,making her constantly vigilant.Thus,Sethe became overly alert to the externalstimuli.Human’s voice was very common for ordinary people.However,Sethe reactedvigilantly.On Sethe’s way to escaping,she was overly alarmed when she heard a person’svoice approaching to the brushwood where she hid.In her imagination,she was incarnatedas a huge snake that was endowed with the ability to swallow a human raw and whole.Shethought to herself that if the comer was a white man,she would bite him up and eat him toprotect herself.“After a traumatic experience,the human self-preservation system seems togo onto permanent alert,as if danger might return at any moment”(Herman,1992:49).

2.2 Intrusion

Intrusion is a typical traumatic symptom,which refers to traumatic moments thatspontaneously enter victim’s consciousness in the form of flashbacks during wakefulnessand traumatic dreams during sleep(Herman,1992:37).In Beloved,Sethe suffered fromthree kinds of memory intrusions,which included the memory of losing milk,having sexwith an engraver as well as the guilt complex for her children.

2.2.1 Memory of Losing Milk

Sethe’s memory of losing milk frequently harassed her mind.This memory intrusionconcerned an audacious theft.Two adult slave owners held Sethe down to the ground andsucked the milk directly from her breast in public as if she were a milking cow.The eventwas narrated a total of 10 times by Sethe in the novel,which also indicated that suffered alot from it.That’s because the theft not only made her lose all her dignity before whitepeople but also let her know her husband’s cowardice.

The miserable memory of losing milk further agonized Sethe with the involvement ofher husband Halle.To mak本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。