The Interpretations of “Mother Images” and Their “Self-Trauma-Healing Mechanism” in Kipling's War Poetry

Rudyard Kipling is the first British writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907.Due to the influence of the First World War and the huge blow of his own beloved son John's death on the battlefield,Kipling's later writing pays more attention to the pain and trauma which the war brings,and the noble qualities of love,belief,and tenacity in human nature after the baptisms of pain and trauma.This paper selects two poems—"My Boy Jack"and"A Nativity"in Kipling's later poetry creation career.Freud's "trauma" and treatment theories are employed to study the two mothers' "self- trauma- healing mechanism"in face of pain and trauma,and to interpret the two mother images that experience the war-torn pain and trauma,and achieve their spiritual salvation at last.Through the transformation of the two mothers,Kipling wants to mourn his beloved son's death and expresses his determination and hope of faith and commitment in order to heal his inner pain and trauma,which unwittingly realizes Freud's trauma-healing theory.Key words: