Agora: Red Deer Polytechnic Undergraduate Journal
Volume 16:1 2025 Agora Conference Proceedings

Haunted by Memory: Trauma and the Search
for Closure with Atwood and Munro
Tessa Woods
Trauma has the power to shape identity, alter memory,
and influence the way individuals navigate their lives, yet the
way people process and respond to traumatic events varies
significantly. The manifestation of the residual life-long effects
of trauma are conveyed in literature similarly to how it is
experienced in real life: unexpectedly and with no true path.
Differences in how humans interpretate and experience trauma
are

acknowledged

within

the

short

stories

“Stone

Mattress” (Atwood 45) and “Gravel” (Munro 112). Whilst
presenting two distinct ways of understanding and responding
to past wounds, both short stories explore the lingering
effects of trauma. In Atwood's story, trauma is displayed
as a force that fuels revengeful and decisive action, while
in Munro's it remains an impenetrable puzzle of memory and
guilt. Through the lens of the protagonist, these stories question
how memories construct – or distort – the past and heavily
influence the present. This suggests that trauma is not just an
event of the past, but an

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ongoing force that conditions one’s identity, perception, and
propels a search for closure.
In “Stone Mattress” (Atwood 45), the protagonist, Verna,
was raped as a young woman by a fellow school peer named
Bob, a wealthy and privileged character. This trauma ultimately
defines the entire rest of Verna's life and molds her distrust and
view of men. Unlike in “Gravel” (Munro 112), where trauma
leads to emotional paralysis, Verna's story leads to cold,
calculated action, concluding as murder as a form of selfreclamation. In “Gravel” (Munro 112), the central trauma
revolves around the drowning of the protagonist's older sister,
Caro. At the time, the narrator is a young child and is unable to
recall the event clearly but is equally haunted by its uncertainty.
In contrast to “Stone Mattress” (Atwood 45) where the trauma
is a direct act of violence, Munro presents trauma as a tragic
accident with unclear responsibility.
Atwood describes the rape scene indirectly which allows
for Verna's bitterness and inner thoughts to reveal its impact.
There is major emphasis on how the event is dismissed by
others, only reinforcing Verna's anger and furthering her feelings
of isolation. The murder of Bob later in the story mirrors the
original trauma, creating a constant cycle of violence.
Alternatively, Munro focuses on the gaps in memory as the
narrator has difficulty recalling the circumstances of Caro's

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drowning correctly, which perplexes the matter of responsibility
surrounding her sister's death. This lack of certainty in memory
and concrete answers creates a more ambiguous emotional
response than in Atwood's story where the trauma leads to
decisive action.
The role of memory in processing trauma is paramount
to the healing journey because it directly stores the details of a
traumatic event. How these memories are retrieved and encoded
significantly influences the psychological impact of traumatic
experiences. Unresolved trauma can manifest into many harmful
symptoms

ranging

from

behavioural. Atwood's

physical,

protagonist

psychological
experiences

and

physical

flashbacks (when she sees Bob again), intrusive thoughts (telling
her to kill Bob), and engages in risky behaviour (killing Bob).
Verna's memory is extremely vivid and defines her chosen
course of action in the present, she does not question her own
recollection but rather uses it as justification for revenge.
Atwood suggests that memory is a driving force behind
retribution and closure, whereas Munro displays memory as
fragmented and uncertain, making it nearly impossible to find
authentic closure. Munro's protagonist also experiences physical
flashbacks of her sister's drowning, however, they present more
of an emotional numbness, concluding that her experience
instilled thoughts of self-guilt and loss of trust in her own reality.

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Munro also emphasizes how memory can distort the past to guilt
rather than resolve, this inability to reconstruct the past
accurately contrasts with Verna's unwavering certainty.
In terms of understanding and responding to trauma,
both authors have their own unique approach. Atwood's
protagonist reclaims her power by killing her rapist, framing it
as poetic justice. This act of murder serves as her own personal
resolution to the violent trauma she endured at the hands of Bob.
Atwood implies that some traumas are so defining that they
shape our identity in irreversible ways, primarily resulting in
negative outcomes. Atwood strategically plots Bob's murder in
a nonchalant, almost matter-of-fact manner, weaving in so much
backstory about Verna's trauma that the reader sympathizes with
her more than the man she ultimately kills. Verna is even shown
to give Bob a chance at redeeming himself – if he had recognized
her and apologized, she would have spared him. Unfortunately,
Bob did neither and his failure to do so only reinforces the story's
commentary on the enduring consequences of trauma. In
“Gravel” (Munro 112), the protagonist has a passive approach to
trauma that highlights how some individuals struggle to find
meaning and closure in the experience. Munro's protagonist
remains stuck – almost frozen in time – and feels a strong sense
of guilt, resulting in the inability to fully process her sister's
death, regardless of the amount of time that has passed since the

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incident. Munro proposes that some unresolved traumatic
wounds have the power to shape one's entire life and
understanding of themselves.
In both “Gravel” and “Stone Mattress”, Alice Munro and
Margaret Atwood explore the complexity of the relationship
between trauma and memory, but it is done so in distinct ways
that reflect their broader thematic concerns. Munro explores the
ambiguity of memory showing how it can paralyze, distort, and
leave individuals trapped in an unresolved past. Atwood portrays
memory as the driving force that fuels agency, vengeance and
action. These differing perspectives ultimately change the way
the protagonists experience trauma, suggesting a much deeper
philosophical meaning about how people respond to and process
suffering and grief.
Margaret Atwood’s portrayal of trauma in “Stone
Mattress” suggests that it is not simply an event from the past
but rather a defining force that shapes identity and further
motivates future actions. Verna’s remembrance of her initial
sexual assault inflicted by Bob is vividly clear and unwavering,
reinforcing Atwood’s argument that when memory is tied to
significant traumatic experiences, they are not easily altered or
forgotten. For Verna, the past is not something that can be buried
or ignored, as the trajectory of her life ultimately changed
because of what Bob had done. Remembering becomes an act of

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survival and demands retribution and justice, which is later
shown in the story when Verna murders Bob. This perspective
aligns with Atwood’s broader literary themes that often examine
female agency, justice, and the long-term consequences of male
violence. This short story also raises moral questions about
justice and revenge: Is Verna’s murder of Bob merely another
form of violence, or was it an act of empowerment? The reader
is left with the reality that there is no easy answer to this question
and is left grappling with the concept that trauma cannot just
simply disappear; that it will eventually resurface and demand
justice in one form or another.
In contrast, Alice Munro’s “Gravel” suggests that
memory can become fluid and subjective rather than a set truth.
Throughout the short story, the narrator admits that certain
details surrounding her sister’s death by drowning are not easily
remembered and are occasionally interchangeable. This
phenomenon results in her being forced to reconstruct the event
based on her own speculation, and what others have confided in
her. This lack of clarity weighs on the narrator making it become
more insidious and disturbing as it contorts her memory of the
roles she did or did not play in the incident of her sister’s death.
The narrator is left to question whether she bears any
responsibility or if she should have done something different in
the moment. The narrator is essentially stuck in this memory and

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cannot decide whether her sister’s death was an avoidable
accident or a preventable tragedy. This portrayal aligns with
Munro’s broader themes of regret, memory, and the limitations
of human conceptualization. Munro’s story explores how people
can attempt to make sense of their past, resulting in a struggle of
reconciling memories with an objective truth.
While both authors have a different approach to trauma
and memory, they ultimately focus on how trauma is not
something that can be easily left in the past. In “Stone Mattress”
(Atwood 45), trauma pushes Verna to take control of her fate,
acting in a way that she believes will restore a balance to her life.
In “Gravel” (Munro 112), trauma is manifested as an everlingering unresolved presence that the narrator cannot either
escape or understand, despite her best efforts. This contrast in
portrayal displays how trauma affects individuals in deeply
personal and varied ways.
Expanding on these authorial implications validates this
essay’s analysis by demonstrating how the two stories offer
complementary yet contrasting perceptions on trauma and
memory. While Munro proposes that it is a wavering force that
can misconstrue reality and prolong suffering, Atwood sees
memory as a means of reclaiming agency. These differing
perspectives suggest a broader commentary on the human
experience of memory and trauma. As discovered through these

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stories, some people turn their pain into action, while others are
left searching for meaning in the gaps of their recollection of
events. By critically examining these implications, readers can
gain a deeper understanding of how literature reflects the
complex ways in which individuals process, remember, and
respond to their most painful experiences.

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Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. "Stone Mattress." The Broadview
Anthology of Short Fiction, edited by Laura Buzzard
and Marjorie Mather, Broadview Press, 2020, pp. 220233.
Munro, Alice. "Gravel." The Broadview Anthology of Short
Fiction, edited by Laura Buzzard and Marjorie Mather,
Broadview Press, 2020, pp. 158-167.

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