ISSN: 2289-649X Journal of Language and Communication, 4(1), 116-124 (2017) 'Universiti Putra Malaysia Press EVASION AND CONFRONTATION OF PERSONAL SECRETS IN TONI MORRISONS PARADISE Shamaila Dodhy Department of English University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan e-mail: shamailadodhy@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The trilogy of Toni Morrison is set against the backdrop of slavery and Re-construction of African-Americans. The historical scenario provides Morrison with a context to explore the emotional and psychological trauma particularly inflicted upon women of the society, thus reminding the contemporary reader the significance of past and its influence upon the present. In Paradise, physical and mental evasion of Mavis from domestic violence helps her to confront the situation confidently and bravely. The severe treatment of the woman by her family-members results in emotional break-down leading towards confusion and nervousness. I investigate various ways in which evasion is registered, through the character of Mavis, which becomes a strategy to survive amid atypical circumstances. Essentially the paper argues my stance that in certain cases, events have to be evaded by the survivor, only then they can be decoded into non-traumatic experience making the survival probable amid nonconforming conditions. Keywords: anxiety, confront, evasion, family, mother, trauma, THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Trauma studies in field of Literary Criticism gained prominence in late twentieth-century. Its connotation transformed from an injury of a body to the disease of mind. Casper thinks that, to be traumatized meant that one was psychically wounded and vulnerable, unwhole; therapeutic practices were aimed at restoring normalcy or stasis (2016, 3). Exhaustive studies by Cathy Caruth, Ruth Leys, Dominick LaCapra, and Shoshana Felman have brought trauma into the field of humanities and social sciences. Earthquakes, famines, wars, accidents result in trauma as they bring destruction on a large scale but seeing a loved-one falling sick and die, sexual assault, and murder of a close relation are equally traumatic. These harrowing incidents do not bring large scale destruction and affect only an individual but they are also extremely damaging as they affect the personality of a person which in the long run has severe consequences on the society. Though multidimensional aspects of trauma are studied by the critics but the critical endeavors of Freud cannot be ignored by the contemporary theorists. The interest in trauma studies began with the study of soldiers returning from war-fronts whose mental health severely deteriorated due the impact of prolonged stress they faced in trenches or in concentration camps. The memory of traumatic events is also studied in detail to explain the deep psychic pain of the survivors/victims. The memory of violent events is so overwhelming that the victim is left with dissociative problems or personality disorders. The trauma theory has advanced by deriving the concepts and studies both of Freudian psychoanalysis and psychiatric notions of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Trauma theory identifies those events which cannot be fully absorbed resulting in unspeakable traumatic experiences. These events remain in life of the victim in form of