35 that trauma is a severe physical injury or wound to the body caused by an external
force, or a psychological shock having a lasting effect on mental life. It is normal for people who experience or witness it. Some of the experiences may be good or
bad. Those experiences may cause someone to feels suddenly in danger, anxiety, fear, helplessness, or horror and also leave us terrified. Gayle experiences at least
three traumatic experiences follows:
4.2.1 Seeing her father abuse her mother
At the beginning of the novel, it is stated that Gayle has experienced some of frightening events which have traumatized her. Some of the traumatic events
are mainly caused by her father. Gayle’s earliest memories, from around the age of three or four, are hiding behind curtains and chairs while her father attacks her
mother. It is impossible for Gayle to run to save or help her mother or even to save herself from her father Sanders 24.
So the trauma begins when Gayle is at the age of three or four. Gayle will hide behind curtains and chairs while her father abuses her mother. She does it
because if her father knows that she is watching, she will be the next victim of her father’s cruelty.
His cruelty and violence were not only physical. He liked to belittle and humiliate my mother, laughing loudly at her and calling her names, or
telling her that she was useless. This verbal abuse affected her as much as the physical attacks did. It chipped away at any confidence she might have
had, reducing her to a shadow of her former self Sanders 15. The truth is that Gayle’s family is a family in which there is no love but
fear. Nothing that Gayle or her brother and sister do and say will make their father stop attacking their mother. Her father does it because he feels like it. Sometimes
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36 her father will give a warning to Gayle when her father does the assault. Gayle
often sees when her father’s eyes turn red as well. But at other times there is no warning. So Gayle has to stay alert in order not to be attacked by her father too
and it makes Gayle very numb. Another day, Gayle and her family move from their old house to the
grandmother’s house and Gayle is very happy to be there. Gayle’s grandmother is quite adventurous. She usually goes to take a trip. One day when Gayle’s brother
and sister are out, Gayle and her grandmother are sitting at the kitchen table and talking together about the death of Gayle’s grandfather. While they are talking,
suddenly Gayle’s father appears and abuses his wife. Throughout Nan’s recollection of my grandfather’s death, my father was
still beating my mother. Suddenly he drew his leg back and kicked my mother so hard on the shin that she screamed. I remember the twisting in
my stomach and my head bursting with fear. I gritted my teeth, my body stiffened and my mind felt frozen in time. My grandmother and I watched
as my mother tried to get up but fell, in agony. My father picked her up, walked past us and took her out into the garden, where he carried on
shouting at her and hitting her Sanders 56-57. Here, Gayle cannot do anything. She can only watch her father’s cruelty.
She is unable to help her mother because she is too afraid and fearful. This event will stay in Gayle’s mind.
Based on the analysis above, we can conclude that Gayle has experienced some traumatic events. Referring to the theory of Davison G-26 about trauma,
Gayle is categorized as a person who has experienced some bad events, so it will make her feel fearful, anxious, and also terrified. Gayle feels those feelings
because she has watched her father’s cruelty. From this analysis we can also note Gayle’s courage to witness her father abusing her mother.
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37
4.2.2 Being sexually abused by her father
