Study on Narrative Skills in John Irving’s Novels

American contemporary writer John Irving is one of the few famous for his unique artistic skills. He appreciates traditional novels and criticizes modern novels, and all of them embody metafiction skills in his creation. Through detailed analyses of his several representative works, the writer of this essay explores John Irving’s perception of novel writing and elaborates his own writing practice including his repetitive narration of the same image. With the help of contemporary trauma theory, this paper also analyzes the recurring image of "Broken Arm" in his novels to restore the symptoms of the narrator's post-traumatic behavior so as to explore John Irving's outstanding artistic talent in narrative skills and characterization.