An Investigation of Trauma Cycles and the Omnipresent Parent in A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Date of Award
8-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
College/School
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department/Program
English
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Jeffrey Gonzalez
Committee Member
Melinda Knight
Committee Member
Adam Rzepka
Abstract
In 2010 A.S. King published her young adult novel Please Ignore Vera Dietz. The novel focuses on several characters who are navigating both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts while also coping with various traumas. While Young Adult Literature does not usually prominently feature parental figures, King chooses to include several parents in the text, and even gives one parent a first-person narrative. Due to King’s unusual choice she is able to illustrate the manner in which trauma can move from one generation to the next. These depictions of complete “trauma cycles” allows for a more comprehensive and empathetic understanding of how relationships are impacted by trauma. Moreover, it provides a clearer understanding of how the parent’s “voice” in a child’s life is omnipresent. Although the novel is a work of fiction, King constructs the text in a manner that provides a realistic portrayal of how trauma affects parent and child relationships, with specific attention to its effect on child development. Since many young adults utilize literature as a mirror through which to evaluate their peers, themselves, and their own life situations, King’s novel proves to be an invaluable tool through which readers can understand their own development. This thesis will trace the trauma cycles present in the novel by evaluating the sources and results of trauma for three narrative characters, with specific attention to how their trauma impacts their relationships. From there, this analysis will serve as a model for young adult readers to use in order to understand their own development. It will also provide a model for adults to reflect on their own involvement in child development in an effort to speak back against adultism. Lastly, this thesis will discuss this novel’s uses in the classroom and suggest pedagogical strategies to employ when teaching this novel.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Orlando, Emily, "An Investigation of Trauma Cycles and the Omnipresent Parent in A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz" (2023). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1727.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1727