The following paper will use the civil wars of Spain and Northern Ireland as two case studies for the analysis of the individual expression of trauma. I will establish the historical contexts of the two wars, followed by an examination and comparison of the collective and individual silences and the memorialization of the civil wars. Afterwards, I will analyze the effects of trauma on the individual expression of the civil wars. Finally I will discuss the limitations of the archives. Through the comparative study of two civil wars and the different methods of memorialization and representation, an argument may be made that in order to discuss an individual's traumatic experience he or she may use the polyphonic discourse thereby allowing the speaker to both represent his or her experiences as well as begin to process any past trauma.