INNER CONFLICT AND IDENTITY CRISIS IN CARTHAGE

This thesis investigates the themes of inner conflict and identity crisis in Joyce Carol Oates’s novel *Carthage* (2014). Through trauma theory, psychoanalytic criticism, and identity studies, the research analyzes the psychological fragmentation of Cressida Mayfield, a young woman whose disappearance becomes a narrative device for exploring self-erasure, alienation, and identity reinvention. The thesis argues that Oates constructs a multilayered depiction of psychological rupture, illustrating how trauma shapes and reshapes identity across different contexts.