preview

Trauma In Dorothy Allison's Bone Boatwright

Decent Essays
Open Document

Sandra L. Bloom, author of “Trauma Theory Abbreviated” says, “...a coping skill that is useful for survival under conditions of traumatic stress can become a serious liability over time”. Unfortunately, these coping skills were not an option for Bone Boatwright. In Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina we see the protagonist Bone Boatwright being left with almost no coping strategies to help her through the traumatic events she underwent as a child. In the novel, Bone experiences trauma through various social contexts. Most importantly, we see how impoverishment directly affects Bone’s relationship with her family and other elements of her life. These tarnished relationships make her incapable of having external resources to cope with the excessive amounts of trauma that …show more content…

She does not understand the lives of people with higher socioeconomic status than her. While many may think that this is a good thing because she will never know what to compare her life to, this actually instigates a problem for Bone. An example of this being a problem is her tarnished relationship with Shannon Pearl. Shannon and Bone never truly understand each others family dynamics, and this eventually causes an argument. Shannon says, “Everybody knows you’re all a bunch of drunks and thieves and bastards. Everybody knows you just come round so you can eat off my mama’s table and beg scraps we don’t want no more” (Allison 170). Although Shannon and Bone are both children, people who do not have much power, Shannon still has higher ground because of her socioeconomic status. Due to their poverty, the Boatwrights’ have always been looked down upon in society. It is often hard for Bone because she is always reminded of this fact. She turns to a friend to help her forget her low standing due to her poverty, but instead, she was reminded of her impoverished state and yet again, was left with no resources to help

Get Access