INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND REDEMPTION THROUGH REMEMBRANCE

ICSSR Sponsored One Day National Seminar on Literature, War and Memory: Narratives of Trauma and Healing in 20th and 21st Century English Literature 175 INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND REDEMPTION THROUGH REMEMBRANCE Dr. S. Sreevidhya Facilitator & Assistant Professor Department of English (Shift II) A.M Jain College, Chennai [email protected] https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17283478 Abstract This paper explores the intergenerational trauma that affects the characters in the writings of Khaled Hosseini and Bapsi Sidhwa. It attempts a comparative study of The Kite Runner and The Pakistani Bride. Both the works are situated with a background of post-partition Pakistan and war-torn Afghanistan. The effect of war has been traumatic and reverberates across generations giving them an identity of silence, shame, guilt and loneliness. The socio-historic framework poses a strong background of war-torn people searching peace as refugees. Kite Runner exposes the guilt of Amir who feels ashamed later for not having saved his friend. This seed of trauma is sown while young and is carried to becoming an intergenerational trauma. The upper-class dominance and denial of basic rights become evident in the novel. The political upheaval from monarchy to Taliban rule poses threat to personal identity beyond gender. This intersects with Amir’s failure and leaves him with a fractured identity. He seeks forgiveness and wants redemption from his greatest sin. It is the remembrance that haunts him throughout and forces him to inherit trauma and pain. Silence, secrecy and suppression remain the backbone of the sufferers of these nations. However, there is always a love for familial relationships. Sidhwa’s The Pakistani Bride traces the journey of Zaitoon a young orphan, loved and raised by Qasim a man who has memories deep about partition and violence. His unhealed trauma is forced on Zaitoon. She inherits trauma from Qasim as she is forced into a brutal marriage. Trauma is not only political but also personal. Her struggle to get back to her father’s house reveals the collective silencing of the women. Their psychological condition is poor and they inherit nothing but a strong legacy of shame, guilt, suppression and fear. Both the novels show glimpses of intergenerational trauma and people seeking redemption because of their haunting remembrances of their past. Memory is an agent that takes them through the journey of pain and suffering to redemption and search for peace. Both the writings are witness to internalized trauma, patriarchal systems and national violence. Keywords: Intergenerational trauma, suppression, partition, suffering, guilt, shame, violence, extremist rule. Introduction Intergenerational Trauma never occurs suddenly. Its impact is felt due to collective historical trauma. In the Kite Runner, there is turbulent history in the backdrop. The rise of extremist regime and strict rules against women is enough evidence to show how it disturbs the wellbeing of the nation in general. In The Pakistani Bride, the partition plays the aftermath of war with widespread violence and orphaning of little ones. There is displacement, brutality, gender discrimination, suppression and violence in the air. The above two novels depict their deeply fragmented nations that they represent through their writings. The extremist rule in Afghanistan and the Partition in Pakistan tears the nations peace into pieces, shattering the dreams of hope and livelihood. Youth are left with no choice but inherit the intergenerational trauma of unresolved emotional damage, displacement, psychological heaviness in relationships. ICSSR Sponsored One Day National Seminar on Literature, War and Memory: Narratives of Trauma and Healing in 20th and 21st Century English Literature 176 Characters Carry Shame and Guilt throughout their Lives Both Amir and Zaitoon in Kite Runner and Pakistani Bride carry psychological scars as inherited properties. Qasim’s trauma during the Partition leads him to make the decisions that traps Zaitoon. He insists Zaitoon to marry a tribal man. This is an outcome of his inability to voice out or share his own grief and process it. Amir’s father passes on a legacy of silence and secrecy. His betrayal of Ali and Hassan is not revealed until after his death and Amir inherits the burden of guilt and confusion. Silence is a mechanism of survival but leads to shame. Zaitoon’s marriage turns to be a prison of patriarchal violence, that is justified in the name of tribal honour. Both the characters suffer guilt and shame though they are not actually entitled to suffer directly. But they inherit as their right and legacy. Assault in the form of physical and mental becomes a regular exercise in every home. They are thrust into identities defined by pain, assault, suppression, alienation and emotional downfall. They are forced to navigate the trauma, travel with the trauma that was not theirs but which they must bear. Memory is a Burden Memory is pivotal for redemption, but until the characters find ways to resolve they suffer the burden of memory. The past haunts them brutally and ultimately transforms the characters. Amir returns to Afghanistan because he is driven by the memory of his father and betrayal. He is reminded of his father’s repeated words, “There is a way to be good again”, and this leads him to redemption. Whereas in The Pakistani Bride, Zaitoon’s escape from the tribal hills is an attempt to free herself from the clutches of suffering and assault. It is not just a run away from fighting in search of love. Instead, it is a more humane instinct to repel, beyond a point of exhaustion. The act of memory or remembrance is propelling in both the novels. This initiates transformation as remembrance becomes a moral and emotional reckoning that allows Zaitoon and Amir to reclaim peace. Jungian theory of Extroversion and Introversion Jungian theory of Extroversion and Introversion implies that trauma is internalised in the characters and reflects as a change in their behaviour. Aamir represents the introvert who is inwardly reflective and burdened with shame and guilt. His trauma is suffered in silence until it is forced into action. Zaitoon reflects the introvert character after her marriage to the tribal man. She is a quiet and observant girl very thoughtful and deeply introspective. Her survival fight is not built on confrontation but on her inner strength. Her adoptive father, Qasim is stoic but adamant with his principles because he also suffers the wounds of partition. Each of the characters in the novels have a wound that affects them internally as well as impacts the others around them. Qasim’s wound impacts Zaitoon and her married life, Baba’s guilt and shame affects Amir throughout his life. They suffer suppression, rejection, assault and denial in every path of their life. Trauma Beyond Gender In both the novels, generational trauma is evident. While in Pakistani Bride, Zaitoon is subjected to sexual violence and forced marriage to a tribal man, in the Kite Runner, men are central to the theme. The absence of mothers, are felt and innocence misused. Hassan’s rape though being a male, is a vulnerable example of how political systems of class consciousness and innocence is handles brutally. Violence and sexual assault happen to both men and women in the novels. Women bear the brunt of trauma through marital rape and alienation after ICSSR Sponsored One Day National Seminar on Literature, War and Memory: Narratives of Trauma and Healing in 20th and 21st Century English Literature 177 marriage. Silent sufferers are always confronted with more attacks and repeated violence. The political system or the patriarchal thinking adds more to their suffering. Women are either pelted in public for walking in the streets without their male counterparts, or they are sentenced to death by blaming them for suspected affair. Redemption is a Moral Search Redemption is deep in the novels of both the writers. They seek redemption through various means possible. Amir searches for Hassan’s son through Rahim Khan and wants to repent for the mistakes. He wishes to save Sohrab and give him a good life. He feels guilty for not having run to save Hassan while he was getting raped. Amir confesses finally to his wife Soraya and finds himself healing from the wounds of memory and seeks redemption. Amir struggles to connect through Rahim Khan who finds Sohrab and informs him “There is a way to be good again”. He finds ultimate peace on saving Sohrab from the clutches of Taliban and this proves to be a path towards his redemption. Amir saves him and he even runs for a kite saying, “For you a Thousand Times over” remembering how Hassan ran to get him a kite while young. Qasim a tribal man with a traumatic past finds redemption in the form of adopting Zaitoon. He lives the life of a caring father and protective man until her marriage to a tribal man. In Zaitoon there is a sense of liberation rather than redemption. Her inheritance of trauma is not from her lineage but through her foster father Qasim. Hence, she runs away from her tribal suffering in search of freedom. Silenced women try to find ways to free themselves by collecting all courage to break their trauma that is passed on to them through generations. Redemption is not an achievement through forgetfulness but remembering deeply, confronting the truth and choosing differently. Memory is a burden as well as a bridge. As a burden it forces the characters to relive the moments they wish did not happen. It acts as a bridge by allowing them to seek redemption. The impact of memory is deeply national and gendered in both the novels. Amir’s journey through Afghanistan is an attempt to retrieve Sohrab. He relives the memories of his betrayal, his father’s lies and seeks forgiveness rather than forgetfulness. Zaitoon’s escape is an act of her remembering her own identity than the one thrusted on her by the new life that gave her pain and suffering. Trauma when acknowledged paves way for healing and when left un acknowledged leads to intergenerational trauma. Introverts internalise their trauma and suffer silently whereas extroverts externalise the burden on the others making it even more painful. Remembrance is not nostalgic but it travels a long way with unresolved issues and redemption is possible only when one confronts with their inheritance. The Kite Runner and The Pakistani Bride powerfully demonstrate how historical and personal trauma reverberate across generations. Through Jungian analysis, we observe that introverted characters bear the internalized weight of memory, while extroverted characters often externalize and perpetuate unresolved trauma. Ultimately, both novels argue that redemption and healing are only possible when individuals confront inherited pain directly. Works Cited Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Riverhead Books, 2003. Jung, Carl G. Psychological Types. Princeton University Press, 1971. LaCapra, Dominick. Writing History, Writing Trauma. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Sidhwa, Bapsi. The Pakistani Bride. Milkweed Editions, 1990.