Date of Publication :21st July 2021

Abstract: The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, written between 1985 and 1987, has been cited as an example of postmodern literature. The theme of complex identity is a recurring theme in his novels, and they can be read as an exploration of identity issues in the postmodern era, where the concept of the autonomous subject has given way to a concept of subject and identity marked by uncertainty and ambiguity. And in the realm of narrative fiction, the characters identities are mainly formed by narrative discourse. Identity can be seen “as one construct within the abstracted story, can be described in terms of a network of character traits.” (Shlomith 1983, 59) particularly in postmodern fiction. The importance of narration for establishing identification as well as depicting literary character is an intriguing feature of the study of characters in Auster's works. Furthermore, Rimmon-Kenan Shlomith goes on to identify the primary means of constructing a character in narrative literature, such as direct description, indirect presentation (action, expression, exterior appearance, and environment), and reinforcement by comparison (which is subdivided into analogous names, analogous landscapes, and analogy between characters) in his work dedicated to contemporary poetics. (2002, 59-71) According to sociologist Anthony Giddens, a person's identity can be found" in the capacity to keep a particular narrative going" (1991, 54). Auster sets the characters against a traumatic/post-traumatic backdrop, with the aim of portraying as much of the fantasizing traumatized subject as possible, as well as his reaction to the context in which he is put.

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