Psychological Trauma refers to the destructive emotion after experiencing some destructive affairs. This kind of trauma widely exits in our society and sometimes can even be used to define the nature of human and society. Memory and trauma are two important elements in The Sense of Ending by Julian Barnes. In the pursuit of memory, Tony starts the journey to inspect and discover himself. In the end, he realizes the harm he has done to others. From the author’s understanding towards history, time and moral, the psychological trauma cab be strongly sensed. The Sense of an Ending provides a paradigm for the modern people to explore the meaning of life.

Yu Liu. A Study on the Psychological Trauma in the Novel The Sense of an Ending. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2023) Vol. 6, Issue 19: 121-126. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2023.061920.

[1] Whitehead Anne. 2004. Trauma Fiction [M]. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

[2] Barns, Julian. 2011. The Sense of an Ending [M]. New York: Vintage Random House.

[3] Herman, Judith. 1992. Trauma and Recovery [M]. New York: Basic Books.

[4] Kermod, Frank. 2000. The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction [M].Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[5] Caruth, Cathy. 2001. Trauma: Explorations in Memory [M]. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

[6] Barns, Julian.1990. Flaubert’s Parrot [M]. New York: Vintage Random House.

[7] Barns, Julian. 1995. A History of the World in 10½ Chapters [M]. New York: Vintage Random House.

[8] Caruth, Cathy. 1996. Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History [M]. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

[9] Freud, Sigmund. translator James Dtrachey. 1989. New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis [M]. London: W.W. Norton& Company Ltd.

[10] Grandofsky, Ronald. 1995. The Traumatic Novel: Contemporary Symbolic Depiction of Collective Disaster [M]. New York: Peter, Lang Publishing.