Photography as a Reflection of the Photographer’s Pain in Time Stands Still

Abstract

The paper at hand attempts to interpret a female war journalist’s, the protagonist’s, Sarah Goodwin’s, decision to return to war zones after surviving a near-death experience in Time Stands Still, by Donald Margulies, (2010). The play starts with the protagonist’s strong assertion that she is endangering her life working in different war zones just to help the victims of wars by showing the world pictures of their suffering. After surviving a deadly road-bomb accident, Sarah Goodwin decided to settle down at home and never return to dangerous zones. However, after six months of recovery, this female war journalist decided to return to war zones. The present study finds it intriguing to speculate on Sarah Goodwin’s determination to return to such zones at such a time of her life. Through consulting some aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and different aspects of Jacques Lacan’s words on photography, lack, and absence, the present study concludes that the protagonist’s desire to go back to war zones does not just help show the world pictures of wars victims’ suffering, but it helps the protagonist construct her own identity. Photography/war journalism becomes a medium through which Sarah Goodwin asserts her identity as a human being as she cannot fulfill her feminine role as a nurturer in a patriarchal society. The audience realizes that through photography, the protagonist projects her sense of lack and pain and attempts to attain some sense of wholeness.