Traumatic Childhood and Adult Personality in Michaelides’ The Silent Patient

Authors

  • Dr. Ayesha Ashraf Assistant Professor, English Department, University of Jhang, Punjab, Pakistan
  • Shafqat Naseem Lecturer, Department of English, University of Jhang, Punjab, Pakistan
  • Ghania Khan Lecturer, English Department, University of Jang, Punjab, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47205/plhr.2022(6-III)48

Keywords:

Childhood Abuse, Memory, Personality Traits, Psychotherapy, Trauma, Repression

Abstract

The objective of this study is to explore Alex Michaelides’ novel The Silent Patient (2019) to evaluate the representation of impact of childhood abuse on young adults’ personalities in general and the main character i.e. Alicia in particular. This research is qualitative and it analyzes the text in the light of Sandor Ferenczi’s theory of trauma and Sigmund Freud’s personality theory. Moreover, textual analysis is used as a research method to keenly analyze words, dialogues and conversations between the characters. The present study is significant as it combines psychological and fictional domains by analyzing the hazardous impact of childhood abuse on human adult personality. In conclusion, this study found that Alicia as an adult is focused more on the negative memories of childhood abuse. She fails to evolve as a positive person. This research ends with the recommendation for further analysis of other characters of the novel in the light of various psychoanalytic theories.

Downloads

Published

2022-09-30

Details

    Abstract Views: 1253
    PDF Downloads: 1235

How to Cite

Ashraf, A., Naseem, S., & Khan, G. (2022). Traumatic Childhood and Adult Personality in Michaelides’ The Silent Patient. Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review, 6(3), 560–568. https://doi.org/10.47205/plhr.2022(6-III)48

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 3 (2022): July to September

Section

Articles

License

ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW (PLHR) adheres to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in PLHR agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International license). Under this license, the authors published in PLHR retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of PLHR are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. Therefore, ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW (PLHR) follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.

Creative Commons License

Signatory of DORA