Chapter 1

Introduction

Literature is the art of written or spoken works that express human thoughts, feelings, and

experiences. Literature can be divided into different types, such as prose, poetry, drama,

fiction, non-fiction, and more. Literature can also be grouped by language, culture, period,

genre, and subject. Literature is a way of preserving and sharing human knowledge,

creativity, and culture. Literature can have various purposes, such as entertainment,

education, inspiration, persuasion, critique, and reflection. Literature can also influence and

shape the values, beliefs, and attitudes of individuals and societies. Some examples of famous

literary works are The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Divine Comedy, Hamlet, Pride and

Prejudice, Les Misérables, War and Peace, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Catcher in

the Rye, Things Fall Apart, The Lord of the Rings, The Diary of a Young Girl, To Kill a

Mockingbird, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Harry Potter. Literature is a rich and diverse field

of human expression and imagination. This particular work belongs to the psychological

thriller genre and is written by an American author Gillian Flynn. Psychological thriller

novels, similarly, showcase characters navigating difficult terrains and overcoming disastrous

mishaps in their lives. By presenting them in situations where they question their family,

themselves, and the world around them; the authors weave a bond with the readers, thereby

highlighting the similarities between them and the characters they read. As literature sprouts

out of life and reacts to it, the bond woven out of this further develops into a strong

foundation that both cannot be separated and studied in isolation.

American literature is a vast and diverse field that encompasses literary works

produced in the United States throughout its history. Spanning a wide range of genres, styles,

and themes, American literature reflects the complex tapestry of American society, culture,

and history. One of the earliest periods in American literature is the colonial period, which
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includes works such as William Bradfords Of Plymouth Plantation and Anne Bradstreets

poetry. These writings often reflect the challenges of establishing colonies in the New World

and the Puritan values prevalent at the time.

The 19th century saw the emergence of significant movements like Romanticism,

Transcendentalism, and Realism. Writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau,

Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson contributed

to these movements, exploring themes of nature, individualism, the supernatural, and the

complexities of human experience. The late 19th and early 20th centuries marked the rise of

American realism and naturalism, with authors such as Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith

Wharton, and Theodore Dreiser depicting life with a focus on social realism and

psychological depth. The early to mid-20th century saw the emergence of modernism,

characterized by experimentation with form and style, as seen in the works of writers like F.

Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and T.S. Eliot. These writers often

explored themes of disillusionment, alienation, and the fragmentation of modern life.The

post-World War II period gave rise to various literary movements, including the Beat

Generation, the Black Arts Movement, and the emergence of postmodernism. Notable

authors from this time include Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison,

and Kurt Vonnegut. Contemporary American literature continues to be rich and diverse, with

authors exploring a wide range of themes and styles, from the immigrant experience to

identity politics, from magical realism to speculative fiction. Writers like Toni Morrison,

Cormac McCarthy, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Junot Díaz are just a few examples of contemporary

voices shaping American literature today.

Gillian Flynn is an accomplished American author known for her dark and twisty

psychological thrillers. Born on February 24, 1971, in Kansas City, Missouri, Flynn grew up

in a family that fostered a love for reading and storytelling. She attended the University of

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Kansas, where she earned degrees in English and journalism, honing her skills as a writer.

After completing her education, Flynn began her career in journalism, working for

publications such as Entertainment Weekly and U.S. News & World Report. Her experience in

journalism provided her with insights into storytelling and the intricacies of human behavior,

elements that would later become central to her novels.

Flynns literary career took off with the publication of her debut novel, Sharp Objects,

in 2006. The novel received critical acclaim for its dark and atmospheric storytelling, as well

as its exploration of complex characters grappling with trauma and identity. She followed up

her debut success with Dark Places in 2009, another psychological thriller that delves into the

aftermath of a gruesome murder. Both Sharp Objects and Dark Places showcased Flynns

talent for crafting intricate plots and morally ambiguous characters. However, it was Flynns

third novel, Gone Girl, published in 2012, that catapulted her to international fame. The

novel, which centers around the mysterious disappearance of a woman named Amy Dunne

and the subsequent media frenzy, became a massive bestseller and was adapted into a

critically acclaimed film directed by David Fincher. Gillian Flynn’s small but highly

influential body of work, comprising just three novels and one novella Sharp Objects, 2006,

Dark Places, 2009, Gone Girl, 2012, and The Grownup, 2015, has been credited with

‘helping to establish one of the hottest new categories in publishing: Domestic Noir.’ Her

writing is characterized by its sharp prose, complex characters, and skillful manipulation of

suspense. She has a knack for exploring the darker aspects of human nature, often blurring

the lines between protagonist and antagonist. In addition to her novels, Flynn has also

ventured into the world of television, serving as a writer and executive producer for the HBO

adaptation of Sharp Objects, which premiered in 2018. The novel was cinematically adapted

in 2014, directed by David Fincher and screen written by Flynn herself, and reaped further

critical plaudits and award nominations for its ‘classy narcissistic humor and exploitation

inflected thrills. With her keen insight into the human psyche and her talent for crafting
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gripping narratives, Gillian Flynn continues to captivate readers and audiences alike with her

dark and compelling story. She is known for her captivating psychological thrillers, which

often explore themes of deception, manipulation, and the complexities of human

relationships. Her major works includes her debut novel Sharp Objects (2006) follows

journalist Camille Preaker as she returns to her hometown to cover the murder of two preteen

girls. As Camille delves into the case, she confronts her own troubled past and dysfunctional

family dynamics. The novel received critical acclaim for its dark atmosphere and complex

characterizations. In Dark Places (2009), the protagonist Libby Day is the only survivor of a

massacre that killed her mother and two sisters. Twenty-five years later, she is approached by

a group of amateur investigators who believe her brother is innocent and seek to uncover the

truth. As Libby revisits her past, she uncovers long-buried secrets and discovers the true

events of that fateful night. Perhaps her most well-known work, Gone Girl (2012) follows the

disappearance of Amy Dunne on her fifth wedding anniversary. As the media frenzy

surrounding her disappearance intensifies, suspicions fall on her husband, Nick. The novel

twists and turns as alternating perspectives reveal the dark secrets and manipulations at play

in their marriage. The Grownup (2015) this novella follows an unnamed narrator who works

as a fake psychic and soon becomes embroiled in the lives of her clients. When she

encounters a troubled woman living in a Victorian house with a dark history, she finds herself

drawn into a chilling tale of manipulation and deceit. Her style of writing is characterized by

its dark, atmospheric prose, intricate plotting, and morally complex characters. Here are some

key aspects of her writing style.

Flynn excels at delving into the minds of her characters, exploring their motivations,

fears, and desires with nuance and complexity. Her protagonists often grapple with inner

demons and traumatic pasts, adding layers of psychological depth to her narratives. She

frequently employs unreliable narrators, blurring the lines between truth and deception. Her

characters are often morally ambiguous, and readers are kept guessing about their true
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intentions and motivations until the very end. She is a master of suspense, skillfully building

tension and suspense throughout her novels. Her stories are filled with unexpected plot twists

and revelations that keep readers on the edge of their seats, eager to uncover the truth behind

the mysteries she presents. Her novels are often set in bleak, atmospheric environments that

mirror the dark and unsettling nature of her narratives. Whether its the oppressive heat of a

small town in Missouri or the claustrophobic confines of a suburban neighborhood, Flynns

settings enhance the mood and tone of her stories. Her writing is known for its sharp and

incisive prose, filled with vivid descriptions and razor-sharp dialogue. Her use of language is

precise and evocative, drawing readers into the twisted worlds she creates with ease. Most

often she explores dark and provocative themes, delving into the complexities of human

nature and relationships. While each of her works is unique, several common themes emerge

throughout her writing. She frequently explores the themes of deception and manipulation,

often through the use of unreliable narrators and twisty plotlines. Her characters are adept at

masking their true intentions and manipulating those around them, leading to unexpected and

shocking revelations. The characters are deeply flawed and psychologically complex,

grappling with inner demons, traumas, and conflicting desires. She delves into the darker

aspects of human nature, exploring themes of obsession, guilt, and the consequences of past

actions and often examines gender roles and power dynamics in her novels, particularly

within intimate relationships. Her female characters are often portrayed as strong and

assertive, challenging traditional gender norms and expectations. The novels are populated

with morally ambiguous characters who blur the lines between right and wrong. Her

protagonists are not always likable or sympathetic, and she explores the grey areas of

morality with nuance and complexity. Secrets and lies are central to many of her narratives,

driving the plot forward and adding layers of tension and suspense. Her characters often

harbor dark secrets and hidden agendas, leading to explosive revelations and shocking twists.

Her novels frequently explore the darker side of society, shining a light on issues such as

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violence, misogyny, and corruption. She often sets her stories in small towns or suburban

neighborhoods, where dark secrets lurk beneath the surface of seemingly idyllic

communities. One of the central themes of Sharp Objects is familial dysfunction. The

protagonist, Camille Preaker, comes from a deeply troubled family, marked by trauma, abuse,

and neglect. The toxic dynamics within her family have lasting effects on Camilles mental

health and relationships. She delves into the psychological trauma experienced by the

characters in Sharp Objects. Camille struggles with self-harm and a history of childhood

trauma, while other characters grapple with their own demons and past traumas. The novel

explores how trauma can shape and distort ones sense of self and reality. Set in the small

town of Wind Gap, Missouri, Sharp Objects exposes the dark secrets and hidden horrors

lurking beneath the surface of seemingly idyllic communities. The novel explores the insular

nature of small towns and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own interests

and reputations. Camilles Self-destructive behavior and addiction are recurring themes in

Sharp Objects. She struggles with self-harm are a central focus of the novel, reflecting her

inner turmoil and attempts to cope with her past trauma. Other characters in the book also

grapple with addiction and destructive behaviours as they try to numb their pain and escape

their realities.

Gillian Flynns psychological thriller novels display a range of emotions and

vulnerabilities experienced by the characters in her stories. These can especially be noted

through the women and children in her narratives. These women are in some situations

empowered as they take control of their lives and the ones around them, thereby displaying

power and agency through their words and actions. Whereas at times, they are vulnerable to

their surroundings and the direction in which their life swerves. This enigmatic behavior

showcased by these women further enhance the readers’ understanding of their lives and

those of the characters.

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 Sharp Objects explores the complexities of female relationships and identity.

Camilles strained relationship with her mother, Adora, and her half-sister, Amma, serves as a

focal point of the novel, highlighting the intricacies of mother-daughter dynamics and the

search for identity and belonging. The novel also examines the power of perception and the

role of the media in shaping public opinion. As Camille investigates the murders of two

young girls in Wind Gap, she grapples with the towns obsession with appearances and the

ways in which perception can distort reality. Overall, Sharp Objects is a chilling exploration

of trauma, family, and the dark underbelly of small-town America, with themes that resonate

long after the final page is turned.

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 Chapter 2
Violence and trauma
Violence can take many forms, including physical violence, emotional abuse, psychological

manipulation, war, crime, and even structural violence embedded in social systems. Authors

use depictions of violence to evoke strong emotional responses from readers, highlight

injustice, delve into the dark aspects of humanity, and critique societal norms. Through the

exploration of violence in literature, readers are confronted with moral dilemmas, ethical

questions, and the consequences of human actions. The short story Charlotte Perkins

Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper serves as a good example of psychological

violence inflicted by both a mental condition and other characters. Its narrator is a young

woman suffering from postpartum depression and though it causes her significant distress,

her pain is heightened by her husband and doctor's neglect and underestimation of her

situation. Overlooking its gravity, they term it a temporary nervous depression and force her

into the rest cure which deprives her of any form of activity or entertainment as well as

others' company – severing her relationships and isolating her from the world. Throughout

the narrative, she gradually spirals into madness by growing more and more obsessed with

her room's yellow wallpaper. Her story, and others that demonstrate psychological suffering,

express that it can be as damaging as physical violence.

The term trauma has its roots in ancient Greek, where it denoted harm and injury, thus

defining its meaning. Psychological theory posits that trauma originates from melancholia

and Freudian concepts. Loss of loved ones, homeland, country, culture, and other similar

entities can lead to depression in individuals. War, immigration, violence, and forceful power

can cause psychological trauma, resulting in recurring nightmares, flashbacks, and

compulsive behaviour. Loss results in the inability of the subject to accept and psychological

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branches. Medical traumatology is the specialized study of the treatment of injuries and

wounds caused by accidents or violence, and it is possible to gain a deeper understanding of

the psychological effects of traumatic events and the importance of recognizing and treating

trauma, which literature can be used as a tool to increase awareness about the impact of

trauma and promote recovery for the survivors. Since the late twentieth century, with the

rising awareness of the impact of specific psychological incidents on people’s minds, trauma

studies began to attract attentions. It has been proved that specific incidents from the past

leave marks on our minds forever. The fact is that among the life-changing experiences,

trauma has the greatest impacts. Not only does it remains in people’s minds, but also alters

their perspective on life, resulting in changes in behaviour and personality. Survivors will

demonstrate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms may pose troubles

when survivors are confronted with events which might trigger traumatic memory, which will

cause them more distress. However, when the origin of trauma is detected and treated, the

trauma survivor can improve the quality of his or her life without being constantly on edge.

In the novel, when Camille is requested to return to her hometown, she is suddenly

faced with the haunting memories of her childhood and her dead sister, Marian. She describes

the town as emotionally detached as possible. It seems to the reader that she is merely giving

a geographic explanation about a town she has only visited once. She then mentions that she

and her mother are not on good terms and rarely communicate. In fact she despises returning

to her hometown since she has a bad relationship with her mother. Her reluctance towards

going to Wind Gap is not limited to her speech; her actions are also illustrative in her

physical posture. She clearly states: “I still didn’t want to go. So much so, apparently, that I’d

wrapped my hands around the arms of my chair, as if Curry might try to pry me out” (5).

Upon her arrival, she behaves as she had entered a cemetery. Camille is well aware of the

emotional distance of her mother, Adora. She is bothered by the fact that Adora puts up a

polite face but her actions give her true intentions away. As she enters her childhood home,
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she is welcomed by her disinterested mother. As a mother, Adora views Camille as an

outsider, a guest who is not close enough to them to share the casual ambiance of their home.

Camille sounds somewhat disappointed when she remarks, “It was the first time we’d seen

each other in almost a year. My hair was a different colour—brown from red—but she didn’t

seem to notice.” (30) Adora is not glad to hear that Camille will stay for a few days. Her body

language very much tells of her true feelings, “A quick pause, her long fingernails, a

transparent pink, clicked on her glass. “Well, I’m sure that’s fine. I wish you’d phoned. Just

so I’d have known. I would have had dinner for you or something.” (30)

The very first night when Camille tries to sleep in her old bedroom, she has

nightmares. She says, “Shooting up in bed every twenty minutes, my heart pounding so hard I

wondered if it was the beating that woke me. … I dreamt my mother was slicing an apple

onto thick cuts of meat and feeding it to me, slowly and sweetly, because I was dying.” (33-4)

Bad dreams could be an indicator of anxiety and feeling frightened. A bad memory attached

to this room and the people inhabiting the house make Camille unconsciously uncomfortable.

Her mind and body are not relaxed, and she might be demonstrating a state of intrusion. This

condition carries sleep difficulties due to the fact that the traumatic event is sculpted in an

abnormal form in her memory and presents itself in her nightmares (Herman 37). Camille is

triggered by Adora and the setting which reminds her of how she used to be treated in

childhood. Added to her PTSD symptoms (Posttraumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric

disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic

event, series of events or set of circumstances.), Camille is struggling with her sense of

self and her relationships. For instance, at Keene’s house, she sees her friends from when she

was a teenager. Her thought while greeting them is, “All of whom had been my friends at one

point, I suppose.” (44). Camille doubts their honest intentions of being friends with her; a

pattern of not trusting people is tagging along. Alternatively, it can be Camille who does not

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trust herself to be true to her supposed friends. She might be too damaged to make people

trust her. According to psychologists Bernstein and Fink, trauma is caused by emotional

neglect and the failure to provide basic psychological needs. Symptoms may be intense

fearfulness, loss of control, and helplessness. Those symptoms are evident throughout

Camille’s stay in her childhood home. She is somewhat self-aware of her feelings as she

mentions, “The evening was feeling too much like a reunion. And I was feeling too much like

a child again—I hadn’t even dared to pull out my notebook with my mother still here,

shooting me warning glances.” (46) A study by Stark demonstrates how children’s negative

view of themselves matches their perception of their parents sending them similar messages,

specifically, apparent messages from caregivers about oneself, the world, and the future

child’s depressive symptoms. This path was arbitrated by childs own beliefs about

themselves, their surroundings, and the future. Thus, the presence of Adora never ceases to

stop; whether it would be conscious or unconscious.

Camille is lost in her existence, and whenever she needs a reminder, she repeats the

words “I’m here” to herself. As previously seen, she is keen on words since they can make

abstract ideas into reality for her. This is quite common among traumatized children to be at

odds with their identity:

I’m here, I said, and it felt shockingly comforting, those words. When I’m panicked, I

say them aloud to myself. I’m here. I don’t usually feel that I am. I feel like a warm

gust of wind could exhale my way and I’d be disappeared forever, not even a sliver of

fingernail left behind. On some days, I find this thought calming; on others it chills

me. (121)

In general through the course of their natural growth, children develop strong inner

representations of dependable caregivers that they may mentally call upon when they are in

need. These inner images cannot develop in the first place in a milieu of persistent childhood

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abuse; they are continuously forcefully smashed by a traumatic experience. Because they

cannot establish an inner feeling of safety, abused children rely more on external sources of

comfort and consolation than other children. The abused child, unable to acquire a strong

feeling of independence, continues to look for someone to rely on urgently and

indiscriminately. Consequently, abused children often exhibit the contradiction that, while

swiftly forming attachments to strangers, they still remain committed to their abusive parents.

As a result, when a child has been abused repeatedly, fragmentation becomes the basic

concept of personality structure. Consciousness fragmentation impairs the normal integration

of information, memory, emotional states, and physiological sensations. Therefore identity

integration is hampered by fragmentation in inner self-representations (Herman 107). It will

result in a different person’s being born out of the traumatic experiences he or she may go

through and that is the very thing which can be proved in case of Camille, who will be

craving to her mother’s love although she hates her.

Adora is the only one to intentionally harm her own children. She abuses her three

daughters both physically and, especially in the case of Camille, emotionally. Her main

method of abuse is to make her children sick by poisoning them by slowly giving them

dangerous medicines, so that she can then appear to be a good mother by taking care of them.

Camille’s younger sister Marian is described throughout the novel as a sickly child,

culminating in her untimely death at the age of ten. Her sickliness and, in fact, her death are

later explained to have been the result of Adora slowly and methodically poisoning her,

rather than any naturally occurring illness. Camille, on the other hand, was not as severely

poisoned as a child. In the main timeline of the novel, when Camille is an adult, the pattern

can be seen repeating itself as it becomes apparent that Adora has been poisoning Amma the

same way she did Marian over a long period of time, though less severely and begins

poisoning Camille as well when she arrives in town. The reason behind Adoras actions was

because of the disease known by Munchausen Syndrome. With this disorder, the person acts
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in a manner which convinces others that the person they are looking after or caring for is ill,

whereas that is not the case. This leads to them gaining sympathy from others and further

damages the other person’s reputation. Adora’s behaviour in the novel certainly fits this

description, as her methodical poisoning is shown to be motivated by the need to appear as a

good and caring mother, to evoke pity and attention from others and to keep her daughters

fully under her control. This caused a rift between their relationship as Camille did not bother

what Adora says to her and did what felt right for her and did things for her sake. Adora does

not simply stop with making Marian fall ill in order to gain sympathy. Once she realises that

Marian has understood that she is not sick because of natural causes but due to Adora’s

insistence on taking dangerous medicines, she kills her daughter. And later gains sympathy

from the women around her for witnessing the loss of her daughter. Camille also notes

instances in the novel where Adora would care for Marian only when she was ill. Marian was

otherwise ignored and isolated from others. Adora’s love for her children, an overdramatic

display of grief when spoken of Marian’s death has been described as Camille, “To this day it

remains a hobby” (23).

Amma, similarly, learns from her mother the ways of hurting others. She creates a

‘Doll’s House’ which resembles their home and the family in painstaking detail. Amma

always seeks the perfect elements to add to her doll’s house and when she fails to gather any

such material, she throws a tantrum which makes her family rush to her aid. This manner of

gathering attention showcases not simply a childlike behaviour but also a childhood devoid of

love and affection which has led to lifelong repercussions on her life. Furthermore, Amma’s

thirst for attention leads her to brutally killing her own friends as she is unable to share her

parent’s love with anyone else. The moment she realises the attention gets shifted from her to

someone else, she befriends unsuspecting little girls, kidnaps them, and murders them in cold

blood. She removes their teeth, tears off their limbs in some cases and displays their damaged

bodies to be seen by the public. This tendency to hunt and hurt showcases the damage
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occurred on her mind in a young age. Even though she is provided therapeutic help, she does

not stop her revenge. As Camille eventually offers her a better way of living, after Adora is

imprisoned, she refuses to change her behaviour. This cyclical nature of hate and revenge

does not simply make the stories stimulating and thought-provoking, but also hint towards the

vicious nature of dysfunctional families.

Amma’s violent behaviour, which ultimately originated from Adora, was learned

rather than inherent, nurture rather than nature. Of course, Camille’s comment about children

weaned on poison also applies in an equally literal sense to Camille herself. She suffered

similar physical abuse as a child, but also emotional abuse unlike her two sisters. She also

notably “considers harm a comfort” (320). From the age of thirteen, her preferred method for

coping with everything that is going on around her has been to cut herself, which is

something that Adora has not hesitated to use as a reason to mock and humiliate her. This

humiliation takes its most extreme form when Adora notes the only spot of uncut, unscarred

skin on Camille’s body, a small circular area on her lower back, and tells her that “someday

I’ll carve my name there” (192), thus voicing her need to leave her mark on Camille in the

form of her violent legacy. At the end of the novel, after Adora’s MBP has been discovered

and she has been arrested for the murders, Camille takes Amma in and moves with her back

to Chicago, where she begins taking care of Amma. As she is giving Amma some aspirin for

a fever, she is reminded of Adora and begins to wonder about her own behaviour: “One or

two pills. So easy to give. Would I want to give another, and another? Would I like taking

care of a sick little girl?” (314). Although she worries about whether she has inherited

something unsavoury from her mother after all, she never repeats Adora’s actual violence

towards Amma. Instead, she decides that “were not going to do it like Adora does it

anymore” (315), thus reassuring Amma that she only intends to help her by taking care of

her, unlike Adora.

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 The symbolic connection between Camille and Adora is finally broken on the last

page of the novel, as Camille cuts into the last spot of clear skin, which has throughout the

story served as a parallel to Adora, who had on her wrist a similarly shaped “little circle of

jagged lines, and within, a ring of perfect skin,” the result of a bite from Ann Nash (203). By

cutting up the remaining spot on her body, Camille effectively severs that connection and

takes away Adora’s chance to “carve her name there” (192). After this, she returns to the

question of her motivations in caring for Amma and appears to absolve herself: “Was I good

at caring for Amma because of kindness? Or did I like caring for Amma because I have

Adora’s sickness? […] Lately, I’ve been leaning toward kindness” (321). However, in

performing this final act of self-mutilation, she is also simultaneously continuing the legacy

of violence that was passed onto her by Adora through her abuse. The maternal cycle of

violence in Sharp Objects extends past these two generations. There are several other

references throughout the novel to Adora’s childhood and victimization at the hands of her

own mother, Joya. She is described by the other characters as a “scary, scary woman” (106)

whom they “never saw […] smile at Adora or touch her in a loving way” (258). In the novel,

this is used to partially explain Adora’s cold and violent behaviour towards her own children,

as Adora herself tells Camille: “You remind me of my mother. Joya. […] My mother never

loved me, either. And if you girls won’t love me, I won’t love you” (190). In addition to this

general lovelessness, Adora repeatedly uses Joya’s physical abuse as a defence when Camille

accuses her of being cold towards her.

Adora claims that she was abandoned in the woods when she was eight years old, and also

that Joya used to pinch her as a child, which is something that Camille remembers Adora

doing to her. The narrative does not, however, entirely support excusing Adora’s actions due

to the previous violence that she may or may not have faced. Camille in particular is sceptical

about whether Adora was ever actually abused, and the narrative offers reasonable support

for her suspicions. Throughout the investigation into the deaths of Ann and Natalie, Adora
15
positions herself as the victim in the situation: as Camille puts it, “every tragedy that happens

in the world happens to my mother” (88). Even before her MBP is revealed, Adora is also

shown to excessively enjoy receiving attention, concern and even pity from others. This sets

Adora’s claims about Joya into question – she might be making up the abuse in order to

justify her own behaviour, perhaps even to herself, and to make herself more sympathetic.

This being said, there are indications that Joya may also have had MBP and routinely made

Adora sick. An old friend of Adora’s tells Camille that as a girl she “was sick all the time”

and “was always having tubes and needles and such stuck to her” (259), which is exactly

what happens to Marian later. Camille feels that even if Adora was abused herself, it in no

way lessens the severity of what she has gone on to do to all three of her daughters. It does,

however, function as an explanation for her violence and tie her behaviour into a longer line

of violence as maternal inheritance.

Each major character in the narrative experiences a degree of trauma. Generational trauma

stems from maternal emotional neglect and self-centeredness, resulting in a lack of love.

Adora's disregard for her daughters' identities led her to treat them as mere dolls, causing

Camille to undergo various acts against her will. As a child, Camille lacked the capacity to

comprehend the situation and therefore did not endeavor to attain her mother's affection. In

the novel, Flynn frequently links women with a doll-like appearance, portraying girls as mere

objects of beauty. Camille navigated various developmental phases during her childhood and

adolescence in solitude. She sought a parental figure to assume the role of Adora in her

relationships. Without experiencing such trauma, her personality would have been

significantly altered.

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 Chapter 3

Manipulation and gender stereotype

The concept and gender roles have long been embedded in society, even today, particularly in

the role of mothers who are required to carry out their roles in line with the principles and

ideology of patriarchy, namely not getting out of line and not shifting men's position in

controlling aspects of the family. The fear of men towards women in shifting their positions

creates a new view of women. According to Barbara Creed as an observer of women in

novels and films, in her book entitled Monstrous-Feminine, men's fear of women in shifting

their position is by giving a terrible picture of women. Monstrosity against women was also

created to restore patriarchal ideology in human bodies and thoughts towards women. As in

the story of Maleficent, a film directed by Robert Stromberg and inspired by La Belle au Bois

Dormant by Charles Perrault and Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm. The film depicts

Maleficent as an evil witch. Nevertheless, the real story behind this description results from

of the king's greed to have the highest position in the country. So that the choice to corner and

blame the witch became the path chosen by the king.

In her book, Creed also mentions the Greek mythology of Medusa as an example of female

monstrosity. In the story, Medusa is depicted as a woman with hair in the shape of a snake

who can turn a man into stone, looking directly into her eyes. Creed said that Medusa's hair is

a representation of female monstrosities. “The sight of the Medusa's head makes the spectator

stiff with terror, turns him to stone … As with all other stereotypes of the feminine, from

virgin to whore, she is defined in terms of her sexuality. The phrase 'monstrous-feminine'

emphasizes the importance of gender in the construction of her monstrosity. On Medusa's

head, is one of the male fears of female genitalia. The fear of women is created when a

woman shows her strength.

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The character who most clearly utilizes the mean girl image is Amma in Sharp Objects.

Amma is the 13-year-old half-sister of the protagonist and narrator Camille, who lives in the

small town of Wind Gap, Missouri, as the daughter of a wealthy family. Due to her big age

difference to Camille, she has essentially grown up as an only child, so much so that Camille

does not recognize her in the beginning of the novel when she first arrives in town to report

on the murders. This is significant because as the sole child of older, wealthy parents, Amma

has grown accustomed to a certain level of attention, both in terms of emotion and material

goods, from her parents. Before any outright violent tendencies of hers are shown in the

narrative, Amma is already shown to be skilled at manipulating the way others perceive her.

Camille, as her sister, has a unique view of the way Amma adjusts her personality,

attitude and physical appearance depending on the person she is around. In the presence of

her parents, especially her mother Adora, Amma performs what Redhead calls “the baby

doll” role – in Amma’s own words, Adoras little doll” (54). This means presenting traditional

Southern femininity and even childish innocence: she wears girly, childish dresses and her

hair carefully curled and spends her time at home tending to her dollhouse, which is a custom

replica of the mansion they live in. Around her friends, on the other hand, she by design

appears much older than her years, dressing revealingly and speaking crudely; Redhead refers

to this side of her as “the Lolita”. This out-on-the-town Amma and her group of friends are

stereotypical if unusually heavily sexualized mean girls as Ringrose defines it. They are

presented as mean bullies towards everyone: other kids in town, adults like Camille, and even

each other, as Amma the leader of the group occasionally turns on the others. Camille herself

labels them as mean girls, which crucially means that despite their provocative behaviour and

verbal harassment, they are not seen as a real threat, and certainly not a violent one. They are

compared to a group of Camille’s old high school friends, now grown women, who still act

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like stereotypical mean girls, exchanging at times cruel gossip about various people even

teenagers in town, but never resorting to physical violence.

This image of Amma as just another in an intergenerational line of girl bullies is

broken, however, when it is discovered in the end that it was in fact Amma who killed the

two girls with the help of her friends. Throughout the novel, it has been implied that the act

Amma put on for her parents was her only one and that the “mean Amma” was more or less

her real self, but the revelation of her as the murderer sets this into question. It appears, then,

that the mean girl act was in fact yet another performance, designed to throw suspicion off

her. Even though Ringrose frames the concern over mean girls as relatively recent, in Sharp

Objects it is clearly not a new one, as Amma is routinely compared to Camille’s generation

and, in turn, to Adora’s. This existing history of normalized teen meanness would not have

escaped Amma: the worst that these characters aside from Amma turn out to be is idle

gossips and avowed anti-feminists, never actually violent. Throughout the novel, Amma’s

main driving force is a need for attention, mainly from her mother; her self-imposed position

as the mean girl allows her to manipulate attention from everyone around her and, eventually,

to kill three girls who she perceives as stealing Adora’s and Camille’s attention from her.

Moreover, she knew exactly how to manipulate her own external behaviour and public image

in order to either inflict harm on other people or hide her violent actions. The suspicion never

lands on her, despite the widespread awareness of her meanness among the people in town.

She successfully navigates between performing a very traditional Southern femininity and

“the new normal” (Ringrose 2006, 413), a mean girl both normalized modes of girlhood

which fundamentally presume harmlessness and thus allow her to hide her true violence until

she is finally caught red-handed.

Amma is not the only violent girl in Sharp Objects, however. Notably, Amma’s two

main victims, Ann Nash and Natalie Keene, both had violent tempers. Specifically, both were

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known to bite people severely enough to leave scars. Ann is also said to have killed a bird

with a stick once and to have intentionally stabbed Natalie with a needle at school. Natalie

went even further and once attacked a girl with scissors, stabbing her both eyes, of which

only one could be saved. In addition, Amma later tells Camille that both girls used to go out

into the woods with her and “hurt things together”, one time killing a cat (319). While these

incidents are common knowledge in the town of Wind Gap, the image of the girls that is

presented in the media in the aftermath of their murders is quite different. Since they were not

even teenagers yet Ann was nine, Natalie ten they are portrayed as particularly innocent and

sympathetic victims by the news outlets in the narrative, including Camille’s own initial

report. Unlike Amma, though, they never intentionally portrayed themselves in a way that

matched stereotypical expectations for them: both girls are described by locals as tomboys.

As the specifics of their violent outbursts unfold over the course of the narrative, the

townspeople that Camille talks to begin to speculate that they may have been killed

specifically because of their violence and nonconformity, as the removal of their teeth

appears to match up with the girls’ habit of biting.

In the novel, Camille also comes to believe this when she recognizes a scar on

Adora’s wrist as a bitemark and becomes convinced that Adora killed the girls. In the end, it

turns out that Amma’s reason for killing Ann and Natalie was in fact partially rooted in their

violence, as she herself tells Camille: “’And why did Ann have to bite… her ? I couldn’t stop

thinking about it. Why Ann could bite her, and I couldn’t’” (320). Amma is jealous not only

of the attention the girls got from Adora, but also of their ability to hurt her in a way that

Amma wanted to but could not. In the end, then, while the media within the narrative rushes

to paint the murdered girls in a virtuous light after death, their refusal to hide their violence

while still alive is ultimately what got them killed.

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 Sharp Objects similarly sheds light on unplanned pregnancies. Most of the families in

the novel suffer the repercussions of unplanned motherhood or in some cases the desire to

give birth to a boy, thereby reinstating the stereotypes associated with motherhood and

childbirth. These expectations lead to sadness coupled with denial and dysfunctional family

life. Ann Nash, a young girl from Wind Gap, also, experienced the consequences of a

neglected childhood as she was made to feel unwanted by her parents, leading to kidnapping

and later murder in the hands of a psychopath. Other families in the neighbourhood

acknowledge this as they say, “But now she’s getting some attention” (20). Furthermore, a

few children in the narrative wish to be kidnapped or try to hurt themselves in order to get

attention from their parents. Amma, Camille’s sister showcases such traits as she ultimately

choses violence in order to make her presence known. Her mother Adora, in a heartfelt

backstory narrates her being made to feel unwanted by her parents. This leads her to assert

her dominance over her husband and children by disallowing them to interact with others.

Furthermore, the other parents in Flynn’s novel constantly discuss a protective

approach they display towards their children. Under the guise of protection, they manipulate,

persuade, and shape their children’s lives. The display of ultimate control over others by

manipulating their lives makes Adora feel significant. At the same time, she also showcases a

loving and caring approach by constantly alternating between criticising and praising them

for the smallest of their actions. As the story moves forward, the readers are introduced to not

simply a beautiful picture of a happy family, but the reality behind upholding a happy façade.

Linda Gordon in Functions of the Family famously notes, “a mother is forced to think of

herself as ‘mother’ and to approach the whole world as ‘mother” (Gordon 22). By stating

this, Gordon encapsulates the idea of a gendered approach to parenting and also highlights

how women have to essentially lose and sacrifice their lives and their identities in order to

establish a new one. This is one such issue, experienced by the mothers in Sharp Objects. The

mothers in Flynn’s novels struggle with carving new identities according to demanding
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situations of the modern world.

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 conclusion

Each major character in the narrative experiences a degree of trauma. Generational trauma

stems from maternal emotional neglect and self-centeredness, resulting in a lack of love.

Adora's disregard for her daughters' identities led her to treat them as mere dolls, causing

Camille to undergo various acts against her will. As a child, Camille lacked the capacity to

comprehend the situation and therefore did not endeavor to attain her mother's affection. In

the novel, Flynn frequently links women with a doll-like appearance, portraying girls as mere

objects of beauty. Camille navigated various developmental phases during her childhood and

adolescence in solitude. She sought a parental figure to assume the role of Adora in her

relationships. Without experiencing such trauma, her personality would have been

significantly altered.

Trauma is the primary factor that influences the behavior and lifestyle of a survivor.

Camille Preaker, the protagonist of Sharp Objects, depicts her childhood trauma by gradually

revealing various facets of her suffering. The individual's familial ties are marred by

recollections of emotional disregard and self-injury. According to Judith Herman, adult

trauma can erode established personality structures, while childhood trauma can structure and

distort personality. The child survivor encounters intricate adjustment difficulties due to

residing in a perilous setting. She must establish trust with unreliable individuals, ensure

safety in hazardous situations, maintain control in an unpredictable scenario, and assert power

in a position of weakness. Each protagonist in the narrative experiences varying degrees of

trauma. Generational trauma stems from maternal emotional neglect and self-centeredness.

The characters in Sharp Objects experience diverse forms of trauma, encompassing

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emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Herman's trauma theory offers a valuable framework

for comprehending the psychological aftermath of childhood trauma on individuals, as

demonstrated by the characters in Sharp Objects. Herman's theory posits that trauma can alter

personality, resulting in behavioural and self-perception changes. It emphasizes the

significance of prompt intervention and treatment to avert enduring consequences.

The novel portrays Camille's pursuit of therapy as a means to confront her trauma and

modify her behavioural tendencies. Camille hurts herself by internalising the anger, Adora

hurts others to gain sympathy and Amma hurts for pleasure. The actions of these characters

hint towards insanity but at the same time makes the readers question the levels to which they

will stoop to get attention. Similarly, the desire to hurt does not stop with one outburst, it

creates a dynamo effect which manages to devastate their entire family, the neighbouring

households and all those that come in contact with them. The mental health disorders

illustrated by Gillian Flynn in Sharp Objects further create apprehensions in the reader’s

mind and make them question the consequences their actions and reactions even towards the

most difficult of situations. All her characters cry out for aid, but some go unheard and

unheeded in the larger narrative. Flynn, like with all her stories refuses to provide a solution

to the concerns raised in her stories, but by creating thought-provoking narratives, she makes

them think and develop a gaze to notice calls for help in th eir surroundings.

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 Works cited

Flynn, Gillian. Sharp Objects. Broadway Books, 2006.

Perkins Gilman, Charlotte. The Yellow Wallpaper, 1892

Herman, Judith L. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse

to Political Terror. Basic Books, 1992.

Gordon, Linda. “Functions of the Family.” Women: A Journal for Liberation, vol. 1, no.2, pp

20- 24.

Creed, B. (2003). The Monstrous-feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. London,

Routledge.

Stromberg, R (Director). (2014). Maleficent. [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.

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