Trauma, Memory, and the Mind Seeking Air: Psychic Resilience in Mistress

Name of Author : Dr.P.Parthiban

Abstract: Anita Nairs Mistress offers a rich exploration of the human mind under pressure, showing how early wounds, marital silence, and social expectations shape a fragile yet resilient self. The novel centres on Radha, whose childhood memories and suffocating marriage create an atmosphere of inner strain, where trauma is not discussed openly but surfaces through mood, bodily sensation, and fragmented recall. This article reads Mistress through a set of interrelated psychological frameworks: Freud’s theory of repression and the unconscious, Cathy Caruths account of trauma and belated memory, Bessel van der Kolks work on the body as the site of traumatic inscription, and the models of psychological well being developed by Martin Seligman and Carol Ryff. The discussion argues that Radhas journey is less a story of dramatic rebellion than of slow, interior reorganisation. Her attraction to Chris, the presence of Kathakali, and the repeated return of painful memories all function as moments in which the psyche seeks air and space. The novel suggests that healing often begins when buried experiences are acknowledged, felt, and given some symbolic form, even if external circumstances do not change immediately. By bringing together psychoanalytic, trauma, and well being perspectives, the article shows how Mistress imagines psychic resilience as a continuous and imperfect process of remembering, relating, and reworking the self.

Keywords : Trauma; Repression; Memory; Psychological Well being; Marital Silence; Kathakali; Resilience

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