A PILGRIMAGE TO REBIRTH: TRAUMA AND RECOVERY IN MARGARET ATWOOD’S SURFACING

• Main Authors: Yi-chen Liao, 廖怡禎
• Other Authors: Dr. Pen-shui Liao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59218207533096497250

碩士 === 高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 98 === Abstract Surfacing is one of Margaret Atwood’s most influential novels. As a victim suffering from a series of traumas, the nameless female protagonist’s ostensibly questing-for-missing-father journey turns out intrinsically to be a therapeutic pilgrimage of trauma recovery to rebirth. The protagonist experiences spiritual death at first and then is enlightened by an epiphany achieved in a lake as well as in the Canadian wilderness which leads her to the ultimate self-integration, metamorphosis, and rebirth. High in intensification and embedded with elaborate metaphors, the novel illuminates its readers by positioning the protagonist in symbolic death and then rise from death to rebirth. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter one introduces the background of Margaret Atwood, the plot summary of Surfacing, and theoretical framework of trauma. Chapter two discusses trauma narrative which aims to probe into the symptoms and origins of the protagonist’s trauma. In chapter three, factors contributing to and precipitating the protagonist’s pilgrimage as a therapy and how the protagonist recovers from her trauma and journeys from death to rebirth are explored. Chapter four is conclusion which summarizes the quintessence of the previous chapters.