Patriarchal Trauma and the Virtuous Archetype of the Mansplained Public School Teacher- An Essay
Many of us are dealing with lived experiences related to the themes explored in these publications. The issues have intensified since these pieces were published, and so, I believe these explorations are increasingly relevant for healing.
My essay, Patriarchal Trauma and the Virtuous Archetype of the Mansplained Public School Teacher pairs the trauma-informed work of Donald Kalshed and other Jungian concepts with my novel, Illusions of More, to describe real-life, day-to-day moral injury in a workplace fraught with the contradictions of individual and cultural narcissistic abuse and misuse.
Vol. 18 No. 1 (2023): JOURNAL OF JUNGIAN SCHOLARLY STUDIES
Illusions of More: A Story out of Shadow
In this depth-oriented, psychological novel, American public-school teachers are overwhelmed and under-resourced. In the small town of Purewater, ELL teacher, Sienna O’Mara, is the only person available to give nine-year-old Pilar the attention and the compassion an orphaned refugee needs. In Sienna’s class, dubbed the Writers’ Lair, Pilar is haunted by traumatic loss. A mispronunciation sends Sienna to a local Saturday swap meet. Marigolds, sugar skulls, and a gift from an enigmatic art dealer on El Día de Los Muertos induct her into a sacred mystery. As mandated textbooks, standardization, and shadowy objectives stalk the teachers and children at Moore Elementary School, a voice no one expected to arise in the United States emerges. Revealing what is erased before it can be written, this shattering, heartwarming, and redemptive novel lets readers peek behind the illusions of more to remember how much lives and dies in a child’s and a teacher’s story.
Offered here now, for those of you who find it, this novel offers an approach to healing. It is my gift to those for whom it will resonant. Please just click the button below.
