Examining Traumatic Experiences of Childhood in Neel Mukherjee’s A Life Apart

Abstract

This research paper attempts to examine the traumatic experiences of the protagonist by analyzing the novel Neel Mukherjee’s A Life Apart. A man's inner world is typically revealed through the psychological trauma that he has experienced. It can upset and overpower one's ability. Neel Mukherjee is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished novelists in the English literary canon. His works effectively portray the complexity of human emotions and psychological turmoil. A Life Apart is the story about a boy named Ritwik Ghosh who has gone through physical abuse in his childhood. His mother used to beat him and his brother. That’s why his childhood was traumatic and eventually he develops childhood trauma. He goes England to study but his traumatic memories keep on haunting him. Memories are very important, and the main character makes connections between memories from the past and memories from the present. He wants to get rid of his traumatic past but he finds no one who can be his support system. This makes his situation worse. To escape from his past, he finds solace in homosexual relationships. Due to his trauma, he also goes through anxiety, depression and guilt. Throughout his life, he keeps on struggling with the bad memories of physical abuse. Apart from that, this novel also projects the Indian Parenting system. Indian parents think that their children should behave according to their will and if they fail to do so, they deserve punishment. That’s why the novel also raises the serious questions about parenting style. Because, the protagonist of this novel faces trauma due to failed parenting.  Psychoanalytical theory and Trauma theory have been used to analyze the psyche of Ritwik Ghosh. The main idea of this paper is to show how the main character in Neel Mukherjee's novel A Life Apart is going through a terrible time.