Trauma, an unfortunate aftermath: exploring childhood abuse in the memoirs of Jennette McCurdy and Tara Westover

Abstract

This thesis utilizes the concept of trauma theory to explore the effects of childhood abuse in the memoirs Educated by Tara Westover and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. Trauma theory by Cathy Caruth and Judith Herman is used to look at the ways victim deals with their trauma when their abuser is a part of their family. Both memoirists were fond of their abuser, and it took time for them to understand their abuse. Thus, the victim's immediate response to the abuse will be explored, along with their aftermath response to the abuse. An explicit textual analysis is given of both memoirs to understand the reason for their preferred methods to cope with the trauma. Furthermore, the thesis will also look at what constituted them in starting their healing journey. Lastly, the paper gives some possible hypotheses of the reason why the authors chose to share their story.