A Study of Delayed Representation and Belatedness of Trauma in Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life

Abstract

This research paper analyses Yanagihara’s A Little Life (2015) to explore how trauma leads to the ‘crisis of representation’, employing Caruth’s trauma theory (1996) and Finkelhor and Browne’s Traumagenic Dynamics Model (1985). The protagonist of the novel, Jude, experiences long-term sexual abuse and paedophilia at the hands of his most trusted people. Due to the longevity and severity of the sexual abuse, trauma seeps deep within him and its belatedness prevents full integration into consciousness, resulting in delayed representation and fragmented narrative which Caruth defines in her theory. Jude finds it difficult to explain his life history to the people around him leading to an incoherent narrative characterized by reticence, bodily manifestations of anguish, enduring painful memories, and a shattered self-concept. Jude fears that revelation may bring shame, misunderstanding and social rejection, as underlined by Finkelhor and Browne. Therefore, he chooses to stay silent verbally but hurts himself physically to externalize his internalized pain. With every wound, he gives to himself, he feels more agency over his body. The study contributes to the trauma studies explaining the fact that Jude and other long-term sexual abuse survivors choose to keep quiet about their past or even present experiences does not always mean that they are unable to talk about it. Instead of being only a symptom or effect of trauma, silence serves as a coping tool against the fear of not being understood and loneliness.