The Fragmented Self in Akwaeke Emezi's You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Abstract This study examines the fragmented self in Akwaeke Emezi's You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty. The protagonist Feyi experiences fragmentation caused by loss and trauma. The objectives of this study are to investigate the influence of trauma on a person’s identity and self as well as to examine how well the issue of the fragmented self is captured in the text and to investigate the socio-cultural experiences that shape the characters fragmented self. Cathy Caruth's trauma theory serves as the theoretical framework for examining trauma, loss, grief and healing in the primary text. It provides a good foundation for exploring trauma as an unclaimed experience, the belatedness of trauma, inexpressibility of trauma and the concepts of "acting out" and "walking through" to show how trauma causes fragmentation in the life of the character Feyi; where her past continuously invades her present. The study finds that the character Feyi experiences fragmentation not only due to personal reasons like loss but also due to socio-cultural expectations. Her character shows that trauma and fragmentation are not only personal but also collective.