Childhood Trauma in the Maddaddam Trilogy Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Memories of youth and adolescence are an integral aspect of one's maturation. The consequences of a traumatizing childhood can affect children for the rest of their lives, as those who fail to address the damage later fail to truly move forward. The results of a negative adolescent experience are evident in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy through the numerous characters who lose their innocence at a young age. As a result of their adolescent experiences, these characters grow up with many defining characteristics that can be traced back to their early years. Through the characters Jimmy, Ren, and Blackbeard, Atwood demonstrates how the quality of one's childhood ultimately influences his mental development into adulthood. In Atwood's first novel, Oryx and Crake, the protagonist Jimmy suffers from an unhappy childhood of abandonment and contempt and as a result finds himself forever discontented in adulthood. Although perhaps the most evident moment of abandonment in his childhood is when Jimmy's mother leaves him, taking with her his best friend Killer, a genetically modified "racer", Jimmy's life before his mother's abandonment is still full of abandonment. As he grows up, he is unable to gain the love of both his parents: a father unable to connect with his mediocre son and a mother who is constantly withdrawn and emotionally unstable. This neglect becomes most evident during Jimmy's birthdays, when his parents constantly forgot and his father simply “sent him an electronic birthday card – OrganInc's standard design” (Oryx 50). Jimmy's lack of emotional connection with his parents ultimately damages his ability to form relationships with others in adulthood. Although Jimmy seeks physical satisfaction in his many sexual partners, he never feels emotionally invested in his lovers. This inability to form deep, lasting relationships with others is ultimately a reflection of his poor relationship with his parents. While Jimmy's unhappy childhood results in an inability to form meaningful relationships, Ren's unstable childhood in Atwood's The Year of the Flood results in a lack of self. value and emotional security. Ren's childhood is full of instability. As their self-centered mother Lucerne forces them to move on multiple occasions for her personal interests, Ren's sense of security and comfort diminishes and any source of coherence and peace in his life disappears. Furthermore, during his childhood, Ren lacks a stable father figure; she is forced to distance herself from her biological father Frank, and her relationship with her surrogate father figure Zeb is unreliable and ultimately fails when Lucerne decides to uproot their lives once again. This lack of stability in childhood translates to a lack of emotional well-being later in life. As an adult, Ren is insecure and naive; she constantly seeks confirmation of her self-worth, as evidenced in her role in Scales and Tails, a place where she feels confident in her worth not as “disposable” but instead useful: “talent” (Year 282). This insecurity and desperate search for validation stems from her lack of stability as a teenager and ultimately hinders her emotional maturity as an adult. Unlike Ren and Jimmy, the character of Blackbeard in Atwood's MaddAddam demonstrates how a happy childhood results in positive psychological development. As a Craker, a genetically “ideal” human being.