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How Does Berest Present Generational Trauma In The Postcard

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Anne Berest’s The Postcard, a work of autofiction, depicts generational trauma caused by the Holocaust across four generations of women in the Rabinovitch family. Due to the trauma and long-lasting effects of the Holocaust, the relationships between Myriam and Lelia, Lelia and Anne, and Anne and Clara struggle to overcome the inability to connect with each other and with their Jewish faith. To begin, Lelia notes her difficulty with reconciling with her mother, Myriam, after the Holocaust. Lelia ponders why her mother abandoned her for countless years, and Myriam refuses to provide her with an answer. Lelia writes, “I think she kept silent out of guilt for being alive. And guilt over all those long absences when I was bounced around from friend to relative” (Berest 440). …show more content…

As a result, Myriam felt that the story of not only her family, but also of the years of her life after their death, was hers to keep silent. Lelia suggests that Myriam’s decision to neglect telling her this story–which kept the mother and daughter disconnected–was due to her guilt for being the only survivor. It is illustrated that the Holocaust’s direct impact of tragedy and loss on Myriam caused her relationship with her own daughter to suffer. However, this trauma does not secede from Myriam, rather, it is seen within Lelia’s relationship with her daughter Anne as well. Because the Holocaust imposed a forced silence on Myriam, Lelia felt that breaking this silence betrayed her now deceased mother’s wishes. As a result, Lelia begins to shut out Anne in the same manner Myriam once shut her out. Lelia exclaims, “Well, I’m sick to death of answering your questions. It’s my past, my past! My childhood. My

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