The Identity Crisis Of Reta Winters: Gender And Ethnicity In Carol Shield’s Unless
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Date
2023
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Ankara Üniversitesi
Abstract
Carol Shield's novel Unless (2002) mainly revolves around Reta Winter's identity crisis in
comparison to her past and present self. As an activist in her youth and a current writer,
Reta's world turns upside down after the news that one of her daughters, Norah,
unexpectedly decides to live in the street. This incident reminds Reta how much she is
estranged from her past self in the journey of self-discovery and how it leads her into an
identity crisis. In this research paper, it will be discussed how Reta's life changes after her
daughter Norah's choice, how Alicia, one of the protagonists in Reta's novel, changes her
life choices dramatically, and how Canada's multiculturalism policy is presented in life.
The interconnectedness among Norah's choice of living in the street by sitting behind a
cardboard sign “goodness” (after experiencing a traumatic incident), the references
related to Norah's clothes and where she chooses to sit, and the relationship between
Norah's traumatic event and Canada's multiculturalism policy will lead Reta to revisit her
past self that she has forgotten for a very long time and will guide her to remember her old
self as the other. Reta's personal trauma and Canada's cultural trauma will be analyzed
in the scope of literary trauma theories by the contribution of the pioneers in this eld,
particularly Cathy Caruth
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Keywords
Unless, Carol Shields, Trauma, Otherness, Gender, Ethnicity