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Maddi Thompson

Humanities II

Professor Baker

5 February 2017

Overlooked Trauma: Exemplified in In the Shadow of The Banyan

Vaddey Ratners In The Shadow of The Banyan, a novel displaying the atrocities that

occurred in Cambodia during the tumultuous rise of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979, portrays

trauma in the form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in response to refugee experience. Majority

of literary critics and book reviewers fail to analyze the prevalence of PTSD faced by child

refugees and the lasting trauma they endure exhibited in Ratners In The Shadow of the Banyan,

feeding into the collective unconscious stereotype that once refugees have settled into the

country they've fled to, their trepidations will soon vanish. Ratner examined the chaotic life of

fictionalized seven-year-old Raami as she fled Cambodia, and the traumatic effects it placed on

her, revealed through her shift from undeniable faith in tevodas to religious desperation, jaded

language, and Raamis feelings of guilt for the horrors that occurred. This essay will use excerpts

from In The Shadow of the Banyan to exhibit trauma, specifically PTSD, in relation to child

refugees globally, while pulling from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network to analyze

the impact of the exposure. This paper will then reveal the gap that critics and reviewers rarely

cover, while uncovering the negative effects on a refugees mental and physical health long after

the events have occurred.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined as a disorder in which the experience of a

traumatic or profoundly stressful event, such as combat, sexual assault, or natural disasters

causes a constellation of symptoms that last for more than one month. (Spielman, 568).
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According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, PTSD is

listed as a Trauma and Stressor Related Disorder, indicating that it is not a disorder developed

pre-birth. Rather, it is a disorder developed in response to a certain stimuli. Stimuli can include

such events such as combat, threatened or actual physical attack, sexual assault, natural

disasters, terrorist attacks, and automobile accidents. (Spielman, 462) For one to be diagnosed

with PTSD, one must have been exposed to a traumatic event, experience recurrences of this

event, avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma, and experience an

increase of persistent negative arousal following the trauma. Further, these symptoms must occur

for longer than one month. Recurrences of ones trauma are often revealed in distressing dreams

or intrusive recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions. (Watson,

Patricia, and Miles McFalls), perpetuating the intensity of the disorder. The inability to recall an

important aspect of the trauma, diminished interest in previously enjoyed activities, and feelings

of detachment all result from an individuals aversion towards their trauma. Neglecting ones

root issue can develop into comorbid disorders, including, but not limited to alcoholism, drug

addiction, and extreme depression. Enduring persistent symptoms of increased arousal, not

present prior to the trauma is a common outcome of PTSD. These symptoms may include

hypervigilance, spontaneous outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, and issues in regards to

sleeping, which disrupt relationships with people and oneself. In order for PTSD to be

diagnosed, the duration of the disturbances must occur for longer than one month. Otherwise, the

condition is simply extreme trauma that dissipates in weeks.

For example, the process of a refugee fleeing ones country in order to escape war,

persecution, or simply in search of new opportunities is one of great stress, regardless of the

motivation. Frequently, refugee experience is accompanied by traumatic events, such as


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witnessing the deaths of other refugees, being separated from family members, as well as being

attacked individually. Surviving under these conditions hinders growth and development,

specifically in child refugees. Living in a consistent state of alarm and self-defense evokes

feelings of anxiety and panic; however, once a refugee has settled into the country in which

theyve fled to, similar feelings of fear and anxiety may return given certain stimuli. Many fail to

realize the everyday stressors that accompany refugees during their resettlement in meeting their

basic needs, such as housing, employment, and healthcare, brought upon by adapting to an

entirely new culture. (White Paper II)

The majority of refugees have experienced traumatic events over the course of their

refugee experience through war, persecution, or other variables that will continue to affect their

mental and physical health long after the events have occurred. One of the outcomes of refugee

trauma with the highest occurrences is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Depending on the country

and time period sampled, the rates of PTSD vary widely within any given refugee population,

with prevalence rates ranging from 4% to 86% for PTSD (Journal of the American Medical

Association). Although the prevalence rates vary considerably, PTSD in relation to refugee

trauma is a topic that frequently is overlooked by literary critics and book reviewers. In specific,

child refugees, despite their resilience and ability to often cope with difficult experiences and

events in healthy and productive ways, (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network) can

suffer lifelong and profound effects on their daily functioning, simply through slight exposure to

traumatic events. No child refugee experience is the same; it is important to note that the childs

age and stage of development are key factors in determining the impact of the exposure. There

are a few distinctive signs of distress, specific to a childs age and stage of development (The

National Child Traumatic Stress Network). According to the National Child Traumatic Stress
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Network, there are three primary stages in a childs development that may reveal specific

behaviors, indicating trauma: preschool, elementary school, and middle/high school youth.

Specific to young children around age of attending preschool, one might experience bed wetting,

thumb sucking, anxiety surrounding the separation from ones parents, a spike in aggressive

behavior, and a repetitive playing out of events related to ones traumatic experience. Elementary

school children may experience negative changes in ones behavior, a looming fear of something

traumatic to recur, difficulty separating from ones parents, and a lack of interpersonal skills,

while youths near the age of attending middle or high school might find oneself feeling a sense

of guilt for the trauma occurred, feelings of shame and helplessness, loss in faith, and a shift in

the way one views the world.

Between 1975-1979, Cambodia faced utter turmoil under the regime of the Democratic

Kampuchea, otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized

Cambodia, and throughout their reign, the Khmer Rouge necessitated not only the obliteration

of people who did not fit into their peasant ideal, but also the obliteration of all prior history

(Chandler). This purge attempted to arrest, torture, and eventually execute anyone in relation to

the government, intellectuals, professionals, and the elite class. In turn, this lead to the death of

approximately two million Cambodians in result of starvation, warfare, overwork, executions,

and lack of medical attention. However, most of these numerous deaths were never intended by

the Khmer Rouge; they were simply the outcome to the governments utopian program of of

total and rapid social transformation. (Chandler) In order to fully understand the trauma that

Raami endured during her childhood in Cambodia, one must acknowledge the state of disaster

that was Cambodia during 1975-1979.


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Raami, the seven-year-old protagonist in Vaddey Ratners In The Shadow of The Banyan

endures many hardships throughout her childhood, following the Khmer Rouges seize of

Cambodia. Accompanied by her family, Raami is forced out of her lavish home into the

dangerous streets of terror-stricken Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge, also known as The

Organization. (Ratner, 36) From thence forth, Raamis life is forever altered through her

government appointed relocations, loss of loved ones, backbreaking physical labor under

atrocious conditions, and her exposure to gruesome and violent acts. Although never explicitly

stated in the novel, one can draw connections between Raamis character after fleeing Cambodia

and an individual with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As stated in The National Child

Traumatic Stress Network, a child refugee, approximately the age to attend middle or high

school, will display trauma and signs of distress in a number of ways. Raami, falling into that age

bracket, exhibits her trauma in accordance to this study: through a loss of faith. Prior to

Cambodias government upheaval, Raami possessed an ultimate and undeniable faith in

tevodas. Tevodas [were] spirits and, with all things spectral, they lived in our imaginations.

(Ratner, 8) Living blindly by unfaltering faith, Raami used tevodas to describe her elegant

mother and during moments of celebration, emphasizing the comfort and positivity in her life at

the time. When by approached by Grandmother Queen, Raamis nanny, stating that she doesnt

believe its wise to put so much faith in the tevodas, Raami simply replies with Why not?

(Ratner, 8) Raami had no reason to doubt her devotion; however, as the four year Cambodian

genocide progressed, mentionings of tevodas decreased exponentially. After being forced by the

new government regime to leave their home and possessions behind, the comfortability and

security of Raamis previous life of royalty was abolished, striking panic. This hopelessness

resulted in her loss of faith. Pray to the tevodas, child, Grandmother Queen said. I prayed to
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the Organization. (Ratner, 37) This reveals Raamis shift from unwavering faith to religious

desperation in a time of peril and distress, mirroring The National Child Traumatic Stress

Networks research.

Raamis trauma is also shown through her shift in the way she views the world around

her, relating back to the NCTSNs age-specific symptoms of refugee trauma. When reflecting

upon her childhood prior to the invasion of the Khmer Rouge, Raamis diction is embellished

with flowery, animated language, highlighting her childlike, carefree outlook on the world. In

beautiful detail, Raami describes her secure home, lush garden, and loved ones, for example,

comparing her mother to a butterfly preening herself. (Ratner, 3) Nevertheless, towards the end

of the novel, as Raami has matured in an unstable setting of turmoil, her experiences have jaded

her. She loses her elevated dialect and more blandly explains her experience, ending in a numbed

silence, unable to speak. Raami claims, The life Id once known was gone, and with it, the

people. There was nothing to say, no one left for me to speak of, so I chose not to speak.

(Ratner, 297) Although remaining unresponsive, within her head Raami was active. She stated,

Still, I saw. Still, I heard. In silence, I understood, and I remembered. (Ratner 297) Raamis

shift in the way she views the world is representative of her distress revealed through her

narration, and the possibility for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to have occurred, though it is

never directly mentioned in Ratners In The Shadow of the Banyan.

Section 8:

Raamis feelings of guilt and responsibility for the atrocities occurring

How that lines up with The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

I gave it to her., didnt I? I gave Radana malaria. (Ratner, 201)


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Radana died because of me. The certainty of it overwhelmed me now

(Ratner, 215)

Similar to how Raami blamed herself for her fathers death

Section 9:

Looking at refugees through the lens of PTSD from Raamis point of view

These events are occurring in real life

This is Ratners experience

Works Cited

Birman, D., Ho, J., Pulley, E., Batia, K., Everson, M. L., Ellis, H. White Paper II: mental health

interventions for refugee children in resettlement. Durham, NC: National Child Traumatic

Stress Network. 2005. Web.

Chandler, D. The Tragedy of Cambodian History. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

1991. Web.

Hollifield, M., Warner, T.D., Lian, N., Krakow, B., Jenkins, J.H., Kesler, J., Stevenson, J., &
Westermeyer, J. Measuring trauma and health status in refugees: A critical review. Journal of
the American Medical Association, 288(5), 611-621. 2002. Web.
Ratner, Vaddey. In The Shadow of the Banyan. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013. Print.
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Refugees and Trauma. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Web.

Spielman, Rose M., PhD. Psychology. Openstax College, 2014.

Watson, Patricia, and Miles McFalls. Best Practice Manual for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

(PTSD): Compensation and Pension Examinations. Washington, D.C.: Dept. of Veterans

Affairs, 2002. Web.

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