Wartime Sexual Violence and Trauma in Nora Okja Keller’s Comfort Woman

Abstract

This article uses Nora Okja Keller’s novel Comfort Woman to examine the ways in which wartime sexual violence inflicted upon young sex slaves by Japanese soldiers near the end of World War II devastated the victims’ mentality and caused them to suffer from a variety of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The article focuses on the psychological trauma of the protagonist Soon Hyo, a Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery and given the name “Akiko” in a Japanese “recreation center” from age 12 to 14. Painful memories, especially the abortion of her first baby without anesthesia by a Japanese medic, and the brutal murder of another sex slave named Induk, deeply disturb Soon Hyo in her sexual life with her American and missionary husband, Richard Bradley as well as in the process of conceiving, delivering, and raising her daughter, Beccah. Guilt for failing to bury Induk’s cruelly discarded corpse and sexual shame from being repeatedly gang-raped incessantly torture the adult Soon Hyo and prevent her from having a normal married life. In the end, Soon Hyo shows various symptoms of PTSD, including flashbacks, nightmarish daydreams, nightmares, and even hallucinations of haunting visions of Induk and women ancestors. Soon Hyo’s case indicates that the PTSD affecting women who have been sexually abused particularly in a wartime setting, requires a timely medical treatment with a multifaceted approach, considering cultural and sociopolitical factors. (Chosun University)