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Psychological Trauma In Edwidge Danticat's Breath, Eyes Memory

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Trauma in Breath, Eyes Memory Psychological trauma is one way a distressing event can affect someone, and can lead to long-term post-traumatic stress disorders. The novel Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat follows the life of a young girl, Sophie, who leaves her home in Haiti to live with her mother in New York. Her mother, Martine, is a survivor of rape and “testing”, a method used by mothers to determine whether their daughters are still virgins. Sophie is “tested” by Martine during her teenage years, and is also subject to emotional abuse by her. Throughout the novel, both Martine and Sophie’s struggles are depicted as they contend with their burdens. Danticat uses characterization and plot structure to illustrate the significant, …show more content…

Through her use of plot, Danticat shows how deeply and strongly trauma can affect a person. One way the plot supports this theme is through conflict. After a while of living with Sophie, Martine begins to suspect her of having a boyfriend. She then begins to “test” Sophie, as well as emotionally neglecting her. This affects Sophie deeply, enough to drive her to a drastic act of self-harm: she breaks her own hymen with a pestle. Sophie describes the deed: “My flesh ripped apart as I pressed the pestle into it. I could see the blood dripping down onto the bed sheet. I took the pestle and bloody sheet and stuffed them into a bag. It was gone, the veil that always held my mother’s finger back every time she tested me”(88). This illustrates the lengths Sophie would go to in order to escape her mother’s abuse, as well as the strength of her resolve. She completed her act with the resolution of carrying a scar forever. From this quote, it can be inferred that Sophie felt so cornered she felt injuring herself was her only way out. As the book progresses, Sophie must face her own feelings about her mother, who has sexually and emotionally abused her. Her conflict is focused on her struggle to figuring out how to interact with her mother,

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