《向苍天呼吁》体现了艾尔曼的文化创伤含义,奴隶制度及其变体男性专制给黑人留下了难以磨灭的创伤。其中以奴隶主摧毁黑人家庭最为显著。以第一代黑人蕾切尔为创伤的承载主体,面临着家庭成员的分离,家庭关系的疏远。文化创伤不仅影响了第二代甚至更多的黑人后代,也有利于加强黑人民族的族裔认同。 Appeal to Heaven reflects Elman’s cultural traumatic implications, and slavery and its variant male despotism have left untold shame on blacks. Among them, the slave owners destroy the black family is the most prominent. With the first generation of black Rachelle as the host of trauma, it faces the separation of family members and the estrangement of family relations. Cultural trauma not only affects the second generation and even more black offspring, but also helps to strengthen the ethnic identity of the black nation.