Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Maddi Thompson
Humanities II
Professor Baker
5 February 2017
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
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).
Thompson 2
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Thompson 6
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
Section 8:
How that lines up with The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
(Ratner, 215)
Section 9:
Looking at refugees through the lens of PTSD from Raamis point of view
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
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.
Thompson 8
Refugees and Trauma. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Web.
Watson, Patricia, and Miles McFalls. Best Practice Manual for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder