A Comparative Study of Josh Malerman and Paula Hawkins on Trauma and Resistance with Reference to Bird Box and The Girl on the Train

Abstract

The current thesis analyses the traumatic experiences of the characters in Bird Box by Josh Malerman and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The researcher examined, how the known and unknown remain un-representable unless the characters confronted it. It delves deep into the resistance that has been utilized by the characters to avoid the harm of the traumas. The characters are unable to display their fears or are unable to cope up with them throughout so, their reasons will be identified. In the selected novels, the characters have been influenced by individual resistance while living in the traumas, which will also be a subject of investigation. The fears and coping mechanisms do not allow the presentation of what is hidden in the memory lanes or in the past. The researcher elaborates, why characters’ psychology is built and nurtured in a way to avoid the monsters in sight and why they do not want the consequences of that repressed trauma to come back to surface. This research will help future studies to dig deep into the traumas faced by the characters rather than analysing an event or plot’s disabilities on surface. Both the selected novels will be analysed by a comparative technique after the application of Cathy Caruth’s Theory of Trauma. The similarities in terms of dealing with the trauma and resistance will be seen in Bird Box by Josh Malerman and The Girl on the Train written by Paula Hawkins. It has been safely concluded that all characters have displayed their traumas and resisted them to live, and how the different kinds of traumas can lead to resistance.