Abstract:William Styron was a great American writer and essayist in history. His works Sophie’s Choice remained on News Time for the best seller last for 49 weeks. He thinks slavery and Auschwitz are two exceptions in human. By these two exceptions, he can deeply understand the question of human condition, humanity, reason and morality and so on. Sophie’s Choice is a rethinking literature work that concentrates on the Holocaust. This work is focused on the tragic fate of Sophie, a survivor from Auschwitz. 

 This thesis uses trauma theory to analyze Sophie’s tragic fate in Sophie’s Choice. It concentrates on the analysis of Sophie’s tragic fate from the perspective of trauma theory. Sophie is a tragic character in Sophie’s Choice. She experiences a serious of tragic events when she is in the camp of Auschwitz. These events lead to her tragic fate. She experiences many traumatic symptoms and effects such as re-experience and avoidance and guilt and loss of belief in God. Although she makes great efforts to recover from trauma by telling traumatic stories and reconnecting with others, she fails.

Keywords:  trauma theory  Sophie’s Choice  tragic fate

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1-Introduction to William Styron-1

1.2 Introduction to Sophie’s Choice-1

1.3 Literature Review-2

1.4 Significance and Composition of the Thesis-2

Chapter Two Trauma Theory-3

2.1 A Brief Introduction to Trauma Theory-3

2.2 Recovery from Trauma-3

Chapter Three Sophie’s Tragic Fate-5

3.1 Sophie’s Traumatic Symptoms-5

3.1.1 Re-experience-5

3.1.2 Avoidance-5

3.2 Traumatic Effects on Sophie-6

3.2.1 Guilt-6

3.2.2 Loss of Belief in God-7

3.3 Failing to Recover from Trauma-9

Chapter Four Conclusion-11