TRAUMA AND RECOVERY: A STUDY OF PTSD MOTIFS IN KISHWAR DESAI’S NOVEL SEA OF INNOCENCE

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PUBLISHED DATE: - 14-06-2024
DOI: -

https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume06Issue06-17

PAGE NO.: - 86-94

TRAUMA AND RECOVERY: A STUDY OF PTSD

MOTIFS IN KISHWAR DESAI’S NOVEL SEA OF

INNOCENCE

Vidhya U

Research Scholar, Department of English, Vels Institute of Science and Technology Advanced

Studies (VISTAS) Pallavaram, Chennai-117, India

Dr. M. Nagalakshmi

Professor & Research Supervisor, Department of English, Vels Institute of Science and

Technology Advanced Studies (VISTAS) Pallavaram, Chennai-117, India

INTRODUCTION

A well-known name in present-day popular fiction,
Kishwar Desai (1956-) is COSTA's first novel
award winner for her Witness the Night. The
middle-aged Simran Sigh is the unconventional
detective in the crime series- Witness the Night
(2010), Origins of Love (2012), and The Sea of
Innocence (2013). The Sea of Innocence is very

similar to the search for the missing in Lisa Jewel’s

Then She Was Gone(2017). The characters in the
novels are victims of crime and corruption who
develop depression. This paper contributes to the
existing PTSD perspectives of modern fiction. This
article aims to provide supporting literature

regarding the natural ability of PTSD- affected
characters to overcome their depressive states.
Some background on PTSD is necessary before
diving into the analysis.

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘trauma’ thus: “1. a

deeply distressing event; 2. Med. Physical injury; 3.

Emotional shock following a stressful event.”

(Compact Oxford Reference Dictionary). However,
the word trauma is also sometimes associated with
the altered behaviour of a person after a major
injury or life-threatening situation. The American

Psychiatric Association has described PTSD as “a

psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Open Access

Abstract

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have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event,

series of events or set of circumstances…Examples

include natural disasters, serious accidents,
terrorist acts, war/combat, rape/sexual assault,
historical trauma, intimate partner violence, and

bullying.”(APA, pg. 1) The term PTSD or Post

Traumatic Stress Disordergained popularity in the
1980s (Ehlers and Clark, 2008), with increasing
evidence mounting on the aftereffects of trauma.
The diagnostic criteria for PTSD is a person
suffering from either one or multiple PTSD
symptoms lasting for more than a month. In some
cases, PTSD characteristics in a person are
delayed; thus characterised as delayed-onset PTSD
(DSM-Vol. 5, pg. 276). Initially, it was widely
assumed that PTSD affected war veterans after
their harrowing experiences in the war.

Recent critical literature studies have provided
necessary insight that supports the view that
psychoanalytical thinkers combine with literary
critiques to reach a collaborative approach.
Trauma-inducing stress means serious long-term
negative consequences, with the past haunting the
mental state of the characters, leading to confusion
(Heidarizadeh, pg. 789). According to DSM, a

diagnosis of PTSD should be considered “when

personality changes emerge and persist after an

individual has been exposed to extreme stress”

(DSM-5, pg. 649)

Substance Abuse and Addiction in the Novel

In the past few days, I realised that the naivety that

once existed on Goa’s beaches had disappeared.

There was an uncomfortable and very apparent
dichotomy between life on the beach and the rest
of Goa... Even though the beaches looked serenely
cosmopolitan on the surface and offered a variety
of sea sports and other innocent pleasures, there
was a looming darkness around the edges. (pg. 8)

According to DSM (fifth edition), ten different

types of drugs can activate the “brain reward
system”, inducing behavioural changes and

addiction. Gambling disorder is also put on the
same pedestal as substance abuse disorder due to
the similar activation of the reward system. Simran
Singh receives information from her forlorn police
friend Amarjith that her case could be more than
just a missing perso

n; “Once upon a time, Goa was

the place for drug consumption. Now it’s become a

big transit hub for sending drugs to other places, as

well” (pg. 175) Corpses of foreign nationals were

stuffed with drugs like heroin and cocaine in order
to ship them oversea

s safely: “It sounded like the

dead made perfect drug mules… with the

complicity of the police and the politicians, the
international drug smugglers who operate from
Goa have perfected each aspect of sending these
corpses back, right down to the death
cert

ificate.”(pg. 189) As Amarjith pointed out, the

Goan police are always at the mercy of local people
to trace the thugs involved in the drug racket. The
Anti-Narcotic Cell (ANC) are trying to ensure that
the tourism industry in Goa is unharmed by the
frequent deaths associated with drug overdose. In

North Goa’s Morjim, a foreign national was

arrested for the possession of hydroponic weed,
charas and LSD. (The Indian Express: December
16, 2023) Goa, being a popular tourist destination,
has been prone to drug-related activities; thus,
keeping a continued vigilance is a priority to the

ANC. Street vendors like Veeramma were “the eyes
and ears of this beach.” (pg. 53).

Vulnerable young adults who are leered under the
guise of a well-paid job in the Casinos are
introduced to drugs; as Vicky2 points out, once
they become addicts, they show behavioural
changes. Some, like Simran in the novel, are

drugged without their knowledge: “With every

step, the rocks in front of me expanded and
contracted, the spaces between them becoming

impossibly far and wide.” (pg. 70) Being a feminist,

Kishwar Desai has expressed her disgust of young

drug addicts raped and mutilated: “Yet there was

nothing funny about the implication of young men

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snaring women like fish and then selling them or

slicing them up” (pg. 7).

LITERATURE REVIEW

Keus and Harde (2022) traced how children’s
novels encourage young readers’ cognitive

development, predominantly how they enable the
ability to interpret the actions of people coping
with PTSD and encourage engagement with

characters’ thoughts, emotions, and goals. Their
analysis focused on Bardugo’s accurate portrayals

of PTSD through her characters. Through a
resisting imagination, children who read

Burdugo’s book cannot become empathetic

towards people with mental illnesses and even

stigmatise them. Briedik (2021), in his article, ‘Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder in The Sun Also Rises’,

investigates if Jake Barnes, the protagonist in
Hemingway's novel, suffers from PTSD symptoms.
Using The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders as the benchmark for diagnostic
criteria, the study has elucidated several
references from the novel to prove the theory.

Barnes’s depression is present in the novel, and it

is well-represented in the article.

Regehr and Regehr (2012) have reviewed the
societal, cultural, and physiological impact of rape
from Shakespearean times to the present. They

have studied Shakepreare’s Titus Andronicus and

considered the rape and consequent inhuman
mutilation of Lavinia. Although an Elizabethan
drama, the depiction of rape and subsequent
trauma has made it relatable in modern times,
especially with the renewed understanding of
trauma studies. Ding and Zheng (2006): Trauma
can impact emotion, cognition, and div, leading
to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This
study aims to introduce the concept, classification,
diagnosis standard, measurement, and symptoms
of trauma and PTSD. It also analyses their
relationship by collecting 58 articles and reviewing
15 related articles. PTSD is the fourth most

common psychiatric disease, consisting of acute,
chronic, and delayed forms. The American
Psychiatric Association has six symptom criteria
for diagnosis. Studying psychological responses
after trauma and symptoms of PTSD is crucial for
clinical traumatic patients. Sameer Jauhar & Allan
H. Young (2021)remind us of how the concept and
treatments for depression have changed since the

publication of Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of

Melancholy in 1621. They have referred to recent
literature to neatly summarise the most popular
treatments available for PTSD and other cognitive
disorders. There has been a significant
improvement in the medical treatments available
due to scientific intervention and research. They
have suggested a few first-line therapies, which
seem to have aided in the treatment methods. This
article concludes that only science can help
overcome psychiatric disorders such as PTSD.
Ehlers and Clark(2008) give insight into the
difference between Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
(CBT) and Cognitive therapy (CT) by identifying
the key variations. They add that psychologists
have developed an adaptation of the treatment
program that is suitable for children and
adolescents. They have pronounced how a
combination of phenomenological, experimental,
and treatment development studies has helped in
the formulation of CBT and CT.

Miller (2019), in her thesis, has delved into modern
teen fiction to illustrate how most of the
protagonists suffer from PTSD. She is astounded by
the subtle portrayal and acceptance of adolescents
suffering from depression. The novels considered
for study include the Hunger Games trilogy and the
Harry Potter series. She examined the trauma-to-
reaction-to-recovery process. She commends the
inclusion of PTSD and trauma-induced characters
in popular fiction as a source of communication.
Sulaiman (2014), in his thesis, has analysed the
two main characters, Elsa and Marin, in Wendy

Corsi Staub’s novel Scared to Death. The author has

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used a psychological approach related to the
psychological aspect of characters in the novels.
Marin learned to overcome her grief by not

focusing on “everything that can make her feel
helpless and start moving to the good things.”

(Sulaeman, pg. 49). The characters learn to cope
with PTSD successfully.

Major Characters Simran Singh

The middle-aged spinster and social worker,
Simran Singh, is seen for the last time in Kishwar

Desai’s three

-part detective series. According to

DSM (fifth edition), “craving or a strong desire or

urge to use

alcohol” is one of the diagnostic criteria

for Alcohol Use Disorder (DSM, pg. 491). “When

one is staring into an abyss, there is nothing like

alcohol to help you jump over it.” (pg. 175) Under

the development and course of this disorder, DSM
has labelled alcoholic adults as being more
susceptible to the depressant effects of alcohol
upon the brain reward system (DSM, pg. 494).

Another example of Simran’s addiction to alcohol

is understood through these lines from the novel:

“I poured a stiff shot into a gla

ss and then knocked

it back. As the familiar heat ran down my throat,

my mind began to function again.” (pg. 57)

As a confessed drinker, Simran feels “drinking,
smoking and flirtatious relationships” have added
“quality” to her life. Eminent by her resilie

nce to

control gambling desires: “I would hate to

exchange them for nights in cold card rooms or

overheated casinos.”(pg. 120) Her perceived
traumatic intensity of Liza’s rape makes her
dysfunctional in everyday life. She adds, “What was

the point of a romantic evening when my mind

would be engaged with the story of Liza?”(Pg.122)

during her date with Dennis. PTSD symptoms of
withdrawal and flashbacks are apparent in the
novel. Simran sees Liza in every blonde young girl
she sees in Goa, thus becoming anxious

immediately: “I felt my stomach knot in tension.

She reminded me far too much of the girl I had seen

in the video less than an hour ago.” (pg. 6) Yet again
she has said; “But the video had an unsettling

effect. Its very visible sexual overtones and the
vulnerability of the girl upset me more than I had

thought. I was also puzzled and angry…” (pg. 2)

From the second novel, it can be inferred that
Simran is afraid of flying. Although she overcame
that fear to save an orphaned baby in dire
condition in Orig

ins of Love, she says: “My fear of

flying kept me from catching a quick flight

back…Feeling depressed and helpless, I pondered

whether to send Amarjit a message about the
hurdles suddenly in front of me. I nibbled at the
remainder of the fish and chips and finished the

beer which was tasting rather odd and flat.” (pg.

54-6)

After a breakup with her previous beau in Origins
of Love because of her fear of commitment, Simran

is once again smitten by love in this novel: “But as

time flew by, to her disappointment, though there
were quite a few very special men, none of them

had grabbed my hand permanently.” (pg. 77

-8) She

clearly suffers from commitment issues due to her
fear of losing them. However, her endearing love
for Durga and her teenage daughter has made her

anxious. “Again, I felt under personal attack as the

psychological pressure built up on me. After the
stress of those earlier videos, I now had to deal
with this innocuous-looking image that had far too

many implications for me.” (pg. 98) Empathising

with the missing Liza was second nature to Simran,
who was mothering a sexually traumatised
teenager. Thus, the videos of sexual assault

affected her deeply: “Yesterday’s video kept

playing in my mind over and over again. I heard

Liza’s voice in a non

-stop loop in my head, begging

the man to stop, and wished I could erase the
sound from my thoughts, but it just got louder and

louder.”(pg. 60) Transferring the traumatised

effect from the victim to herself is yet another
PTSD symptom:

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My head began to pound. Who could have sent this
to me? It was a much more frightening video than
the first. The first one, though sinister, might have
been a bunch of delinquent kids just fooling
around. This footage was extremely brutal and
explicit. The phone slipped through my hand onto
the rug as I fell back on the bed and stared at the
ceiling. I felt sick and nauseous, as though it was I
who had been molested. (pg. 56)

The Christmas festivities in the night markets of

Goan regions could not lift Simran’s spirits. She
was“still aloof, uncertain and unhappy.”(pg. 81).

The usual scenery also failed to help her recover

from her depression: “The sound of the crickets

and the birds seemed to get louder and louder. I
told myself to stop imagining things...somediv
would wake up from a drug haze and stumble out
of the jungle, wondering at the noise. But even that

thought didn’t make me laugh.” (pg. 148) Another

expert where she feels completely alienated from

her surroundings due to her PTSD: “Had I been less

tense and worried, in another time and space, and
despite the sweaty bodies around me, I would have
been charmed by the atmosphere, too. But right

now, there was too much on my mind” (pg. 92).

Simran developed a low sense of security, and she
was far from uncovering the truth behind the
mystery. She was unsure about her realities and

questioned her sanity:“…the triumphant look on
Veramma’s face: It was gone so quickly I wondered

if I had imagined it. My mind was already ravaged

by hundreds of conspiracy theories…” (pg. 156)

After

the news of Marian’s possible death broke

out, Simran was very traumatised: “I knew I was

hyperventilating and sounding high-pitched and

hysterical, but I didn’t care. Nor could I help it.” (pg.

157) Constantly, Simran slips into delirium and
imagines the possibility of Liza being alive:

Feeling a little sick, I stared out of the window. The
sea was as calm as ever. I could see the bright
orange sun diving slowly into the water. The pink-

tinged clouds formed a perfect backdrop. None of

it seemed real…And th

at made me think, for just a

fleeting moment, that perhaps Liza had not been
killed (pg. 177- 182).

Due to a harrowing detective experience in Goa,

Simran seeks reconciliation: “Calling home made

me yearn for some normalcy in my life again.
Compared to my Delhi life, my Goan experience
seemed increasingly strange, and I longed for the

few peaceful days...” (pg. 78) Solace in steady

individuals is often sort out in case of a

traumatised person: “I wished Dennis was with me
because even though the ‘jungle’ lo

oked harmless

in the morning, I was still preoccupied with
thoughts of so many young women being raped

every day.” (147) Towards the end of the novel,
Simran “did not want to focus on the pain” because
she had experienced “enough” already (pg. 197).

Vacati

oning in another part of Goa was Simran’s

method of healing from trauma: “So last week

Dennis and I shifted to South Goa to spend some
time with his family and get over the evil that we

had just confronted.”(pg. 196)

Mariam

Mariam, Liza’s elder sister, wit

h whom she came to

Goa for a vacation, “was barely twenty

- four, but

seemed much older. Her sister’s disappearance
really seemed to be taking a toll.”(pg. 62) Simran

was furious with Marian and everyone else who
was related to Liza due to their apparent
indifference towards her disappearance. Marian

was secretly searching for her sister, who “at first

seemed helpful but turned out to be uncaring and

duplicitous.”(pg. 80) Marian was showing signs of

behavioural changes after the trauma of her sister
being lo

st, so “a safe distance” (pg. 88) was

maintained between herself and others. The
development of PTSD in Marian can be attributed
to many things: the trauma of losing her passport;
being falsely accused of possession of drugs;
finding out that her father is a drug addict; and the

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secretive rape of the police personnel. PTSD
symptoms of avoidance of stressors related to the

trauma can be attributed to Mariam’s behavioural

changes. In addition to physical changes such as
slimming down and shaggy look, Mariam displayed

diagnostic criteria related to ‘Avoidant/Restrictive
Food Intake Disorder’. Major depressive disorder

is one of the differential diagnoses of this disorder,

which results in “restricted food intake, usually in

relation to overall energy intake and often [is]

associated with weight loss” (DSM

- 5, pg. 338)

According to DSM, recurrent, involuntary, and
intrusive memories are diagnostic criteria for
PTSD. (DSM-

5, pg. 271) In Mariam’s own words:

“Look, I can tell you how wonderful Goa can be

when things are going well, and how one bad

experience can make everything turn to ashes.”(pg.

115)The readers can infer that the dual personality
of Mariam is a coping mechanism to hide her real
trauma:

She probably kept quiet about it all, too ashamed
to even tell her mother about her troubles and

Liza’s disappearance, posting emails instead about

the wonderful time she was having in Goa, her

career in astrology and Liza’s mythical travels. Like

many other women, over time, she learnt to deal
with her sexual exploitation, knowing she would
get very little sympathy or justice. In her case, she
also covered it all up by inventing another persona,

‘Astrologer Anne’. (pg. 186)

Minor Characters Liza Kay

Simran alludes to Scarlet Keeling’s case (in the
novel) to Lisa’s du

e to their apparent similar lives:

“It was the story of a young girl leading an artificial

and very adult life, where she was seemingly
pushed frenetically into one disturbing situation

after another” (pg. 61). To Simran the missing

fifteen-year-

old Liza “

sounded just like any other

young girl. Like Durga.” (pg. 109

-10) Another

instance where Simran sympathises with the
naivety of the girl is her reflection on Liza thus:

“Apart from the indifference she had faced from
Marian and Stanley in Goa, she’d had ot

her things

to worry about: she was a young pretty girl, left
more or less to her own devices, on a beach that

was far from safe.” (pg. 145) In the diagnostic

features enlisted as essential to being considered

as PTSD, Liza comes under “threatened or actual

sexual violence category”. The criteria includes,
“forced

sexual

penetration,

alcohol/drug

-

facilitated sexual penetration, abusive sexual
contact, non-conduct sexual abuse, sexual

trafficking” (DSM

- 5, pg. 274).

Stanley Kay is the head of the drug addicts in Goa:

“On the cement platform under the banyan tree sat
a man with a long red beard and flowing locks…I

was probably in the presence of some of the early
flower children who had stayed behind and made

Goa their home.” (pg. 89). Hosting ecstasy parties

along the shady beaches at night made him a cult

figure. To the protagonist, he resembled “sanyasis

who often trekked around the Himalayas, looking

for spiritual succour” who has found his salvation
“at the end of a reefer” (pg. 149). Stanley exhibits

signs

of PTSD due to his “socially withdrawn

behaviour, marked diminished interest or

participation in significant activities.” (DSM

- 5, pg.

273) Having no real company and no one but his

daughter Mariam beside him, he was aloof: “That

despite having lived his entire life in this part of
Goa, when the vultures gathered and stole his
daughter

–

he found he was still an alien.” (pg. 187)

Simran finds Stanley’s depression surfacing during
her casual inquiry about Liza: ‘She went back to
London, of course’…He seemed

to have suddenly

sobered up. The hysteria had gone” (pg. 153).

Stanley has no grip on his life and wants to escape;

“But first he would have to get over the trauma of

losing his younger daughter

–

a grief he had never

spoken about or discussed” (pg. 195).

Moving back

to England would help him recover from PTSD, as
revealed in the novel.

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Vicky: Another manipulated young mistress of
Vinay Gupta who gets homesick in Goa is Vicky.

Desai portrays her as the “friendly hostess” of the

casino, with the ability to

turn into “an ice maiden”

when Simran enquires about Liza. Having been
affected by PTSD, Vicky sees her mother in Simran:

“‘I really don’t know why I’m telling you all this.
You remind me of my mother, I think.’ She stopped

and then blushed, thinking she might have

offended me…” (pg. 83) Vicky is brave to have
“broken the code of silence” (pg. 196) and helped

out the investigators in the case:

…the only reason I’m speaking to you is because,
after this incident with Marian, I feel I’ve had
enough…I’ve trie

d to quit many times, but I am

always forced into returning because he says he
needs me. For people like me, like Liza, there can
only be one way to escape. You know what I mean.
Because he will hunt me down, she seemed
harassed and anxious, much older than her years,
her hands clasped nervously. (pg. 176)

Unfortunately, her erratic behaviour ultimately
leads to her death. DSM, fifth edition, has

elucidated that “PTSD is associated with suicidal

ideation and suicide attempts, and presence of the
disorder may indicate which individuals with
ideation eventually make a suicide plan or actually

attempt suicide” (DSM

-

5, pg. 278) Vicky’s sad

demise towards the end of the novel evokes one’s
empathy: ‘I realise that no one can ever understand

what Vinay Gupta [her boss] did to her and how
much she regretted giving up her life and her youth
to a man who trapped her with unfulfilled

promises.” (pg. 196)

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the study reveals through DSM’s

diagnostic criteria the prevalence of PTSD in the
traumatised characters in A Sea of Innocence.
Kishwar Desai, as a novelist, has grasped beyond
the trauma to speculate how characters heal to

reach “their greater clarity, knowledge and insight”

(Heidarizadeh, pg. 5). By collecting data in the form
of quotations, statements in the novel, and relevant
facts about the theory of PTSD, the study exposes
that the characters can be diagnosed with this
specific disorder. From the beginning of the novel,
Simran Singh is traumatised by the revelations of
the Goan underworld

: “One side is very visible and

very loud. This is the world where you can be a
simple tourist, have fun, indulge in water sports,
eat, drink and go home. The other side is where you

and I seem to be trapped” (pg. 112

-13).

Stephanie Miller has rightly noted that mental

illnesses can go unrecognised in fiction: “Seeing a

character deal with trauma symptoms without
seeking help can show readers how common it is
for people to experience mental illness and not

seek treatment”. (Miller, pg. 62) The Anatomy of

Melancholy, first published in 1621, argues the
Renaissance science that merely being considered
as a chemical imbalance or a hereditary disorder,
depression can be a sign of some signal that life is

undesired. (Garson, 2023) “The idea of depression

as a message, rather than a malfunction, stretches

back to the Renaissance.” Garson (2023) suggests

that recent evidence suggests the powerful effects
of therapy prescribed by Robert Burton. However,
Jauhar and Young (2023) have reconciled that only
scientific intervention and medication can help
overcome PTSD. The diagnostic classification
systems encompass a heterogeneous group of
disorders, and so do the treatments (Jauhar and
Young, 2023). APA has strongly recommended
four interventions for the treatment of PTSD, all of
which are variations of cognitive behavioural
therapy (CBT). The categories of CBT
recommended by cognitive behavioural therapists,
like Cognitive Processing Therapy, Cognitive
Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure, all focus on
particular aspects of CBT intervention treatments.
(APA, PTSD Treatments) The resilience of the
characters to aid in the investigation process in
spite of the danger posed is a sign of mental

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strength. The characters learn to overcome and
recover from the PTSD symptoms once Li

za’s case

is resolved.

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