Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2-11-2026
Department 1
First Year Seminar
Department 2
Interdisciplinary Studies
Abstract
This project examines how literature provides insight into these differing trauma responses by comparing Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Drawing on contemporary psychological frameworks of PTSD and PTG, this analysis argues that psychological distress and growth are not mutually exclusive responses to trauma. Instead, they can coexist along a spectrum shaped by meaning-making, responsibility, avoidance, and engagement with suffering.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Gruben, Audrey, "Post-Traumatic Stress and Post-Traumatic Growth: A Literary Lens on Trauma, Meaning, and Survival" (2026). CAFE Symposium 2026. 28.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cafe2026/28
Comments
This poster was created based on work for FYS-W 150: Death and the Meaning of Life and presented as a part of the eleventh annual CAFE Symposium on February 11, 2026.
and presented as a part of the eleventh annual CAFE Symposium on February 11, 2026.