Amalia, Ikhlasul (2026) LILY BLOOM’S TRAUMA AND RECOVERY IN COLLEEN HOOVER’S IT ENDS WITH US. Undergraduate thesis, Faculty Of Humanities.

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Abstract

Trauma is a phenomenon that shapes how individuals understand themselves and
relate to others, often leaving effects that extend far beyond the moment it occurs.
This study analyzes Lily Bloom’s trauma and recovery in Colleen Hoover’s It Ends
with Us using Judith Herman’s theory of trauma and recovery as the main
framework. The study applies library research and a qualitative descriptive method
within the approach of psychological literary criticism, examining character,
characterization, setting, and conflict as the intrinsic elements used to trace Lily’s
traumatic experience. The findings show that Lily’s trauma stems from two
connected sources, her childhood exposure to her father’s violence against her
mother and her later experience of abuse in her marriage to Ryle Kincaid. This
trauma produces two effects, which are disconnection and a damaged sense of self
marked by guilt, shame, and self-blame. The study also finds that Lily’s recovery
unfolds through three stages, which are safety, remembrance and mourning, and
reconnection. This study concludes that It Ends with Us portrays trauma as a cycle
Lily must recognize before she can break it, with trauma recovery emerging as an
accumulation of small acts of courage rather than a single act of change.
Keywords: trauma; trauma recovery; Lily Bloom; It Ends with Us

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