Recovery from Psychological Trauma in American Post-Apocalypse Novels

Abstract

This research investigates two major American post-apocalypse novels which are Cormac McCarthy The Road (2006) and Jeanne DuPrau The City of Ember (2003). In order for the study to go beyond a mere representation of characterizations or motives, the research integrates Judith Herman’s psychoanalytic theories into the various layers of both texts. First, employing Herman’s theoretical framework of hyperarousal, intrusion, and constriction, which are three symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, the study argues that the main purpose of The Road is the manifestation of parental love, but the main purpose of The City of Ember is survival. Second, the paper draws on Herman’s critical notions of safety, remembrance, mourning and reconnection to represent the possibility of achieving recovery in a post-apocalyptic world. Even though the nameless boy in The Road is exposed to an ashen, senseless world and the father asserts that everything has died, the son is shown as the hero of his father’s stories. Symbolically, the son is associated with light and as the source of his father’s power. Likewise, Lina and Doon’s collaboration in The City of Ember signifies that there is value to human life and friendship when an entire population are about to descend into total inferno. The study argues that even though both novels share some basic similar themes such as recovery from traumatic experiences, their approaches differ concerning the orchestration of language, symbols, settings, narrative voices and conflicts.