Trauma as a Drive for Survival: A Study of Courageous Mother

A Study of Courageous Mother

Abstract

The traumatic experience leaves permanent
marks on one’s psyche and the victim show
the sign of emotional shock either in terms of
reduced communication or a total lack of
speech. While trauma has been studied as a
regressive mechanism, Cathy Caruth (2001)
has found another aspect of trauma while
studying the speech of a boy who comes
across the sudden death of his friend. She
finds that though the boy is shocked by the
unexplained death of his friend, yet he feels
more determined to live and to fulfil the
dreams he shares with his dead friend. The
current study employs the findings of Caruth
(2001) as a theoretical framework for the
analysis of the character of a mother dealing
with the loss of her son in the novel
“Mornings in Jenin,” written by Susan
Abdulhawa. The researcher proposes that
traumatic experience, although disturbs the
mother emotional balance in every possible
way, makes her more determined to protect
her own life that has been denied to many of
her people and thus acts as an impulse to
live a meaningful life.