This paper approaches the question of identity in a posttraumatic condition through the lens of schema theory, with reference to Tom McCarthy’s novel Remainder (2001). It examines how schema constr uction provides enough clues for understandi ng the protagonist’s attempt to form his lost identity. The close analysis of the novel is done through Stockwell’s (2002) definition of schema theory. Schema theory offers psychological and scientific proofs for the protagonist’s behavior, revealing how his mental obsession and motivations for reenactments are directed by cultural forces. This obsessive behavior constantly changes from one state to another. The theory will make these constant changes in behavior trackable by examining the character’s changing principles of his schemata, which, according to Stockwell (2002), first develops, then changes, and finally gets refreshed in a posttraumatic situation. Finally, the paper interprets the protagonist’s crisis of identity as the modern man’s passage from modernism toward postmodernism and the traumatic reaction to this transition. The paper also pinpoints the pros and cons of the schema approach.

Keywords