A study in contrasts: inscriptions of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in two works of fiction.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigates the depiction of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in two works of fiction, The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, and Ordinary People, by Judith Guest.


METHODS
In each text, the character struggling to mount a defense against the symptoms of PTSD is a child who must confront not only a single, precipitous event but also deleterious, ancillary conditions that threaten to impede the recovery process.


METHODS
This is a study in contrast that utilizes a comparative case analysis of two fictional characters.


RESULTS
One child reconstructs an integrated self while the other deteriorates mentally and emotionally.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest factors such as social supports, economic status, race and aesthetic self-image may play critical roles in a child's resiliency to the symptoms of PTSD.
North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, 400 North Service Road, Great Neck, NY 11020, USA. mmaxwell@nshahs.org
Marilyn
M
Maxwell
D001877:Books; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*