An Analysis of Terrorism Trauma in Falling Man

【Abstract】In Falling Man DeLillo examines the psychological trauma experienced by an ordinary family in New York and how they self-adjusted to it. This paper explores the trauma healing methods used by post-9/11 people through analyzing the main characters different features so as to illustrate the tremendous impact of the historical event on the spiritual life of American people.

【Key words】Falling Man； characters features； trauma healing

【作者簡介】李嬌（1990-），山東臨沂人，中國人民武裝警察部隊后勤學院基礎部外語教研室，助教，英語碩士，研究方向：英語翻譯與英語教學。

Don DeLillo（1936-）is a charming leader in the postmodern novel area， and is recognized by literary critic Harold Bloom as one of the four contemporary American giants. His Falling Man was published on May 15th， 2007 and immediately caught readers eyes because of its 9/11 topic. It details the effects of 9/11 on an ordinary family in New York and has received favorable feedbacks in United States.

1. Keith Neudecker

“He was walking north through rubble and mud.…He wore a suit and carried a briefcase. There was glass in his hair and face， marbled bolls of blood and light.” （P3） This scene is very like a description of trauma by Freud： One person luckily escaped the accident site of train collision， superficially he didnt get hurt. However， in the next a few weeks he would show a series of severe psychological and behavioral symptoms…（Caruth， 16）. Cathy Caruth used to take this example to explain trauma theory， believed that in the unforgettable experience caused by catastrophic incident， peoples reaction is usually delayed and the main symptom is hallucination， repeated emergence of some images which force into mind. （Caruth， 11） Keith in the novel is particularly troubled by hallucination， the images he saw on that day. Keith Neudecker， as a lawyer working in World Trade Center， experienced the terrorist attack in person. Though he later resumed his domestic routine with his wife Lianne， in the following three years， he often dreamed about falling men， the fixed prosthesis， paralysis， suffocating， helplessness； his dead friend Rumsey sitting on a chair by window.

2. Florence

Florence is a woman in the tower when terrorist attack happened. Though she is not a main character in the book， she went through the same experience as Keith did， that is why the author of this paper decides to leave some space for her in this paper. As stated above， peoples reaction to the unforgettable experience is usually delayed. So was Florences. She was trying to call her friend when the terrorist attack happened. Moreover， her friend died in the attack. In later days， at dark night Florence sill kept calling her friend though she was aware of her death. The trauma experience continuously harasses their mind， making them mixing the real time and the time of attack. In her memory of 9/11， Florence obviously fell into the scene of terrorist attack again and again. The mixture of tense indicates that she couldnt differentiate the real time from the attack time. Her tone is tense and hurried， her sentence is very simple， and logic relevance is lost.

The recovering of narrating her memory exactly starts when she looks for accurate words to describe， and Keith who went through the same trauma attack tend to be her listener， helping her externalize the trauma event. Starting from her oral statement in front of Keith， Florence gradually cleared up her thinking and in her later narratives， she could add into her own analysis and judgement： “I am the story.”（P109） This shows that she could already externalize her own experience and turned it into a story and got the desire of narrating.

3. Lianne

Lianne is Keiths wife and they had separated before the terrorist attack， but after the attack they got back. For this part， DeLillo may try to express one potential meaning： when disaster comes， home is the only shelter. Though Lianne was not in the tower when the event happened， she also got hurt deeply. The whole country was deeply injured. Lots of normal scenes and things in life will arouse trauma victims memory and make them feel the trauma again. It is especially highlighted in Lianne： the still life on the wall of her mothers apartment， several bottles in the picture make Lianne think of the outline of twin towers. In addition to the 9/11 trauma， Lianne also got shocked by her fathers suicide， who committed suicide out of fear of senile dementia.

Lianne volunteered in community nursing home. She led the elders to tell their own story and made them record it. In their narrating， Lianne continuously thought of her own trauma memories， her father killing himself， Keith covered with blood standing in front of her on 9/11. The writing class went on for two years and Lianne stayed being a listener. “She owes them a story， doesnt she？” （P126） Then Lianne responded the elders request and told her own story. She spoke of Keith and Justin after 9/11. In the process of recalling， her desire of telling trauma experience was aroused and then she told them everything. Through sharing her story， Lianne released her helplessness and depression， persuaded herself to walk out of her self-protective mechanism—repression.

One thing needs to be discussed here is God. For those who hold the skeptical ideas of the existence of God， the 9/11 event dispels the only remaining trace of their trust on God. For example， the heroine Lianne， she always thinks about that terrorists make people become a tool of compliant “Lianne struggled with the idea of God. She was thought to believe that religion makes people compliant. This is the purpose of religion—to bring people to a childlike state. This is why religion speaks so powerfully in laws， rituals and punishments” （Versluys， 145）. Therefore， when the tragedy of the 9/11 event happened， she has not simply attributed to acts of God as to her， this is meaningless， after a long enough time when she found a way to heal her trauma， she finally explained to herself， God is not here.

At the end of the novel， Lianne decided to accept that God is not here， and “she was ready to be alone， in reliable calm， she and the kid， the way they were before the planes appeared that day， silver crossing blue.” （P236） Lianne turned her trauma memory into action defense through telling it. This is the healing method she chose—be tenacious and strong， striving to live.

Falling Man tells us that from the psychological analysis of post modern society， terrorist attacks have left great impacts on general public. What kind of trauma the characters have suffered is already discussed above. Keith chose to avoid reality， living in the past， which leaves his trauma haunting him forever； Florence， though without a clear end in the novel， found peace through telling her own traumatic experience to Keith； Lianne also released her helplessness through sharing and facing her trauma directly. “No trauma， no maturity； no ability of understanding trauma， no real growing up.” （P12） This is what Falling Man enlightens us. People grow up in trauma. Only begging for forgiveness， letting the past go， cherishing the present and loving life is the right way of stopping falling and going back to normal life.

References：

[1]Caruth，Cathy.Trauma：Explorations in Memory[J].Baltimore：Johns Hopkins UP，1995.

[2]Caruth，Cathy.Unclaimed Experience：Trauma，Narrative，and History[J].Baltimore：Johns Hopkins UP，1996.

[3]DeLillo.Don. Falling Man[J].New York：Simon & Schuster.Inc， 2007.

[4]Versuly，Kristiaan.Out of the Blue： September 11 and the Novel[J]. New York：Columbia UP，2009.

[5]李靜.論《墜落的人》中的人物特征及其意義[J].華北水利水電學院學報（社科版），2013（29）.