Studies in Literature and Language
Milkman’s Identity Crisis Caused by His Trauma in Song of Solomon
Abstract
In the light of trauma theory, this thesis attempts to analyze Milkman’s identity crisis in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. It explores the cause of Milkman’s identity crisis, that is, his own psychological trauma led by the effects of trans-generational transmission of familial and racial trauma. Losing parental love, Milkman is indifferent to others and always feels a sense of isolation and depression. Isolated by both the blacks and the whites, Milkman is trapped in identity crisis. He is internalized to the white identity and feels a sense of rootlessness. Through analyzing Milkman’s identity crisis, this thesis tries to reveal the influences of slavery and racism on African Americans and probes into Toni Morrison’s allusion to the issue of identity crisis facing minorities in America nowadays.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/n
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