Expectation to Despair: Analysis of Trauma Theory in Goat Days and Khadamma

Abstract

Literature influences human beings in different ways and also helps to give new perspectives regarding each and every matter. The language of literature has a power to get the attention of the readers. It has a room for memories, flashbacks and moments which are filled with discomfort, injury as well as trauma.Works like Khadammaand Goat days throw light into the inner skirts of the experiences that the characters go through and offer wide platform for the analysis of their mindscape. Traumacan be considered as an individual‟ssensitivereaction to a particularoccasion that annoysformernotions of aperson‟s sense of life. The central feature of trauma novel is the change of the self-ignited due to anexteriorfrightening occurrence.Ashwathy of Khadammaand Najeeb of Goat days are victims of trauma that dissect their identity. They experience a sense of disillusionment and loss of identity which leads them to a traumatic situation. Both the characters reached gulf in the hope of earning money but their journey of hope soon turned to despair with the cruel treatment of their sponsors. Their misery forced them into trauma where they questiontheir own identity. These characters from varied works of different genres, is connected by a bond of shared experience of trauma in a foreign land with horrible aftermath.This paper focuses on the concept of trauma and identity crisis faced by the characters Najeeb and Aswathy who represent hope and desire of every keralits who dream about a secure future. Both the works are set in the background of gulf.