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Trauma In The Farming Bones And Sethe's Beloved

1159 Words5 Pages

African American women have suffered through various traumatic experiences in history and within their own personal lives. Through the characters of Amabelle from The Farming Bones and Sethe from Beloved, readers are able to see the psychological effects of slavery, the Parsley Massacre, and the death of their loved ones. The theme of survival is prominent within these compelling novels and is mainly displayed through the women previously stated. Amabelle and Sethe undergo many dangerous situations in their lives. They battle many external and internal wars. Because of Amabelle and Sethe’s survival instincts, they are able to be victorious physically, but not mentally. Amabelle and Sethe truly ‘survive’ their fight in life when they are able to overcome their psychological traumas.
One may ask what exactly is trauma?:
In her influential work on trauma, Cathy Caruth defines it as "an overwhelming experience of sudden or catastrophic events’ in which …show more content…

African American were often dehumanized and ridiculed for their bodies (Tanrıtanır). These women have to remain strong and not show the world that their traumatic experiences have scarred their mind. African American women were successful in escaping slavery, however, as a result of silencing their experiences, African American women have suffered through various levels of depression and insanity. The Parsley Massacre is an aftermath of slavery in Haiti. Even though Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island of Hispaniola, Haitians were unwanted in the Dominican Republic by Dominicans because the pigment of their skin was just a few shades darker. The Dominican government did everything in their power to remove every individual of Haitian descent from the Dominican Republic. They tortured Haitians out of their country. They removed all the dignity Haitians had, but Haitians still managed to display their strength instead of

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