Wei Lin
Professor Grekul
TA Britt MacKenzie-Dale
English 153
15 March 2018
The Sustained Trauma: An Analysis of Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach
In Eden Robinson’s novel Monkey Beach, the author reveals the intergenerational trauma over the indigenous community, Haisla. Lisamarie, as well as her peers, is a victim of intergenerational trauma that is passed from one generation to another. The older generations of the family suffer directly from the colonialization which left them incurable scars, and consequently have a negative impact on the young. Despite focusing on the main character Lisamarie, Robinson also depicts what the lives of the victims of the residential schools look like, the effects of governmental and political restrictions on community …show more content…
She is an alcohol abuser, although she does not ever call herself an alcoholic, which is shown by the number of times she narrates the plots that she has woken up on the beach somewhere, or been taken home however having no memory of it, after a whole night of drinking. This is partly an imitation of the elder, especially Aunt Trudy, who use alcohol to paralyze themselves from the depressing reality. Alcohol abuse is common within the Kitamaat community, which could be the common depravity faced with the stress of beater memories of colonialization. Although Lisamarie claims that she loved parties and that her drinking was just part of that, it seems that alcoholism is the main reason for her regarding parties the first place in her lifestyle and abandoning the rest of her life including family. She turns down the helping hands from her families and chooses to use alcohol to cope with the trauma she endures following the track of Uncle Mick and Aunt Trudy.
Despite the trauma caused by residential school, the former victims of residential school in turns become the abuser and transmit their trauma to the younger generation. Josh who is introduced as a friend of Uncle Mick from high school has also experienced hardships at residential school and develops serious problems as a result. According to Robinson’s series of flashbacks, the climax of the story comes when …show more content…
Monkey Beach depicts how indigenous people struggle in the memories of colonialization and how the younger generation are negatively affected by the elder’s post-trauma deeds. The cultural dislocation in the Haisla community is another conflict that Lisamarie and other characters are faced with. The novel is a reflection of various indigenous people who are enduring the ongoing trauma. It provides an insight into the indigenous community’s condition and raises the awareness of the sustained trauma, which helps non-indigenous readers understands the first Nation better. In addition, the indigenous community itself can find a perspective to regard their traditional cultures and consider about the revival of their
Professor Grekul
TA Britt MacKenzie-Dale
English 153
15 March 2018
The Sustained Trauma: An Analysis of Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach
In Eden Robinson’s novel Monkey Beach, the author reveals the intergenerational trauma over the indigenous community, Haisla. Lisamarie, as well as her peers, is a victim of intergenerational trauma that is passed from one generation to another. The older generations of the family suffer directly from the colonialization which left them incurable scars, and consequently have a negative impact on the young. Despite focusing on the main character Lisamarie, Robinson also depicts what the lives of the victims of the residential schools look like, the effects of governmental and political restrictions on community …show more content…
She is an alcohol abuser, although she does not ever call herself an alcoholic, which is shown by the number of times she narrates the plots that she has woken up on the beach somewhere, or been taken home however having no memory of it, after a whole night of drinking. This is partly an imitation of the elder, especially Aunt Trudy, who use alcohol to paralyze themselves from the depressing reality. Alcohol abuse is common within the Kitamaat community, which could be the common depravity faced with the stress of beater memories of colonialization. Although Lisamarie claims that she loved parties and that her drinking was just part of that, it seems that alcoholism is the main reason for her regarding parties the first place in her lifestyle and abandoning the rest of her life including family. She turns down the helping hands from her families and chooses to use alcohol to cope with the trauma she endures following the track of Uncle Mick and Aunt Trudy.
Despite the trauma caused by residential school, the former victims of residential school in turns become the abuser and transmit their trauma to the younger generation. Josh who is introduced as a friend of Uncle Mick from high school has also experienced hardships at residential school and develops serious problems as a result. According to Robinson’s series of flashbacks, the climax of the story comes when …show more content…
Monkey Beach depicts how indigenous people struggle in the memories of colonialization and how the younger generation are negatively affected by the elder’s post-trauma deeds. The cultural dislocation in the Haisla community is another conflict that Lisamarie and other characters are faced with. The novel is a reflection of various indigenous people who are enduring the ongoing trauma. It provides an insight into the indigenous community’s condition and raises the awareness of the sustained trauma, which helps non-indigenous readers understands the first Nation better. In addition, the indigenous community itself can find a perspective to regard their traditional cultures and consider about the revival of their