Analysis of Dissociative Disorder in Freshwater by Akweake Emezi

Abstract

This paper analyses the dissociative disorder in the protagonist of Akwaeke Emezi’s first novel, Freshwater. It is explored that due to trauma and abuse, the psyche alters or fractures one’s personality to survive and to protect it from further damage to the mind and body. The traumatized mind is unable to decide what it is and what it wants, and the frustration leads them to various other conditions that include substance abuse, self-harm, and being suicidal. This paper discusses dissociative disorder, its causes, and how the character finds a solution for her ailment. The broken psyche searches for relief from the people around it, but sometimes solutions come from unlikely places.