TESTIMONY OF TRAUMA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PROTAGONISTS OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY, WILLIAM FAULKNER AND VIRGINIA WOOLF

Abstract

The research paperinstitutes a comparative study to explore the nature of mentally sick and wounded characters of Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf. The psychoanalytical theory of trauma of Sigmund Freud and Cathy Caruthhas been applied to compare the psychological trajectories of the protagonists of the selected novels: The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), The Sound and the Fury (1929), Light in August (1932), Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Light House (1927). The selected novels are compared firstly from the aspect of the same reason for trauma that is war, leading to various negative consequences on the lives of different victims. Secondly, the novels are compared focusing on the various impacts of the American culture after World War I on the mind and sensibility of the characters. Thirdly, the novels are contrasted concentrating on the reasons that lead to various mental disorders like anxiety, dissociation of self, trauma, manic depression etc. Fourthly in the last part of the comparison, it has been discussed how the victims revivify their traumatic past experiences.