DescriptionTowards the end of the nineteenth century, a tradition considering the traumatized child was developed in American Literature. In particular, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, provided the traumatized American child with a voice, defining a tradition that would be developed throughout the American literary cannon, in works such as Light in August and The Bluest Eye, and persists in works of contemporary literature. This tradition arose in response to a Romantic and Victorian focus on the child, adopting the concern and applying American themes and style. Additionally, the American tradition of the traumatized child responds to and parallels research and conclusions of developmental psychology and studies in Child Development. This tradition is influenced by a series of standard constructs and focuses on the relationship between trauma and the child’s imagination.