Girl Interrupted By Susanna Kaysen

In the book Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, Susanna Kaysen was only 18 years old when she agreed to enter a medium security psychiatric facility in Boston, McLean hospital in April 1967, after a failed suicide attempt. She insisted that her over dose on aspirin was not a suicide attempt, but after a 20 minute interview the doctor decided she needed to be admitted to a hospital. During her prolonged two-year stay at the hospital Kaysen describes the issues that most of the patients in her ward have to deal with and how they all differently deal with the amount of time they must stay in the hospital for. While in the hospital Kaysen experienced a case of depersonalization where she tried to pull the skin of her hands to see if there were bones underneath, after a failed escape attempt. Soon, after going to therapy and analysis she was labeled as having recovered from borderline personality disorder. After her release she realizes that McLean Hospital provided patients with more freedom than the outside world, by being free responsibility of parental pressure, free from school and job responsibilities, and being free from the “social norms” that society comes up with. Ultimately, being in captivity gave the patients more freedom then in society and created a safe environment in which patients wanted to stay in.

Laurell K. Hamilton spoke in great words that, “there are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” Hamilton embodied a central state of mind of a person who is mentally ill. The wounds mentioned are those caused, and worsened, by traumatic events and public perception of a person with a mental illness. The women in the short stories that have been read embody an internal injury caused by an outward force. In “Story of an Hour”, “Rose for Emily”, and “Yellow Wallpaper” it is impactfully shown how traumatic life experiences can lead to and worsen mental illnesses.

There seems to be a clear and concise message that Hellen Zenna Smith tries to get across in her novel Not So Quiet. That message implies no matter the war, it is a grizzly and destructive force and it can shake free even the deepest-rooted forms of social norms and values. Smith emphasizes this idea straight from the first part of the novel when Tosh shaved off all of her hair (14). She described how necessity took over in these women’s lives. This necessity caused most of the women to look at their roles in society differently. Some of the values and norms that are questioned in the text are, nationalism, femininity, sexual morality and social standing.

The novel, Girl, Interrupted is a memoir of author Susana Kaysen’s life and her journey through early adulthood as she suffered with Borderline Personality Disorder. The novel captures her time at McLean Hospital, a psychiatric hospital located in Belmont, Massachusetts. Kaysen divides the novel into separate anecdotes of events and fellow patients she encountered during the two years she was admitted at Mclean.

“It was hard to surprise me in those years. It was hard to even get my attention,” says Joan Didion. People experience psychological issues differently, whether it would be depression or anxiety. Many lose their identity in the process where they do not who they are anymore. As this is seen as a serious issue, unaware people take the concept lightly, assuming that mentally ill people are asking for attention. Two authors argue that claim, giving their point of view for being mentally ill and showing how it affects them as a person overall. In the personal narrative, “The White Album,” written by Joan Didion, she provides different problematic events that had happen between 1968-1971, where these events have been the cause of her psychological

For my book review, I have read and evaluated Susanna Kaysen’s best known memoir entitled Girl, Interrupted and, I will survey its major strengths and weaknesses. Susanna Kaysen’s book has all of the qualities of a great memoir including engaging characters, imagery, and situations that you can relate too.

Girl, Interrupted, a memoir, written by Susanna Kaysen, got it’s name from a Vermeer painting. Kaysen relates the interruption of her life; being transmitted into a mental institution, to the girl in the painting interrupted by her music. Kaysen’s memoir discusses the lives of those she met there as well as her own. It provides an idealistic image of what it’s like to be a patient in a mental institution in the 1960’s.

At the age of 18, Susanna has already abandoned school and has had an affair with her English high school teacher as well as half-heartedly attempted to take her life with a bottle of vodka and aspirin. It is evident from her fateful consultation with the doctor that this character’s overriding emotion is exhaustion (Smith 1). This therapist manipulates her in volunteering to check herself into a Mental Hospital since he believed that it would be the best decision for anybody who was involved. The doctor ushers her into almost two-year hospitalization at McLean Hospital where Susanna signs herself in with a sense (at least at first) of relief. Upon arriving at the prison-like institution, Susanna is met with a narcissistic and hostile woman named Lisa who is also the leader of a group of patients. Susanna narrates Girl Interrupted in unemotional, cool voice, sketching the scenes and characters that demonstrate the kind of life that people faced in mental institutions for the rich in the late 1990s (Kholeif 1). The nearly impassive narration depicts the way Susanna has detached feelings from life as a teenager as well as her desires to leave for her readers certain

In the 1982 production of Dreamgirls, Jennifer Holiday showed expression of power and strength through her projection and body language when playing Effie. Because of this act, her character was portrayed in a very believable way due to how she expressed her emotions in a very vulnerably. I liked how she continued to sing and explain how she felt after the man she was explaining to left. This action made her emotions come to life; having the audience see those true thoughts within the character while she was alone. Jennifer Hudson's 2006 performance was, likewise, including powerful vocals with the emotional aspects as well. The interactions within the characters were highlighted more in this performance in a great way. This helped me understand

This story is about a boy named Michael Pomerantz who lives with his Mom, Berm the dentist that his mom is dating, and his sister. Mike is a high school freshman who is tall and too skinny, with chicken legs and ugly hair. Mike has basic high school student wants, a girlfriend, a car, and of course, friends. He contends with his parents' divorce and a disinterested, selfish crisis father. Then there's "The Girl," Gina, who he has known for years and has fallen in love with. He actually began keeping a journal in the hopes that she would view him as the "sensitive" type and fall madly in love with him. Mike tells all his troubles to his computer journal, and best friend Nate. Hunk is the football star at Mike's school, and Gina's date to the

This story is about a boy named Michael Pomerantz who lives with his Mom, the dentist that his mom is dating, and his sister. Mike is a high school freshman who is tall and too skinny, with chicken legs and ugly hair. He contends with his parents' divorce and a disinterested, selfish crisis father. Then there's "The Girl," Gina, who he has known for years and has fallen in love with. He actually began keeping a journal in the hopes that she would view him as the "sensitive" type and fall madly in love with him. Mike tells all his troubles to his computer journal, and best friend Nate. Hunk is the football star at Mike's school, and Gina's date to the snowball (the high schools winter dance) Gina and Hunk get into a fight a night before the

In the novel, My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, a thirteen year old girl named Anna believes she came into the world with a purpose to help save her older sister Kate who is suffering from a rare form of leukemia. When her parents, Sara and Brian found out Kate had cancer, a doctor gave them a theory to have a donor child. Anna becomes that child. Ever since a young age, Anna has been donating cells, organs, blood and whatever was necessary for Kate's survival. One summer, while Kate is in need of a kidney in order to survive, Anna decides she can no longer continue donating to her sister and she sues her parents for medical emanciation. The family begins to struggle as they realize this means Kate will die.

Girl interrupted is a gripping tale of a girl’s maladaptation to the challenges of life. The movie focuses on a young girl named Suzanna Kaysen growing up in the 1960s and struggling with the world around her. Suzanna is admitted to Clarmoore institution after she consumes a whole bottle of aspirin and alcohol to deal with her pain. When admitted to Clarmoore she claims she was not trying to commit suicide, but that she just had a headache. She is overwhelmed and apprehensive as she enters the institution and observes the people around her

Each day as Rachel Watson rolls by Blenheim Street she intently observes a couple who happen to live on the same street as her ex-husband and his new wife. One day notices Jess with a man who is not Jason; and when Jess goes missing shortly after, Rachel gets herself over involved in the case and cannot get out. As the captivating novel continues, Rachel begins to pick up clues that help her participate in the investigation, and huge twist at the end.

Ice Break was composed by Astrid Blodgett in 2012. Astrid takes first individual portrayal to make the plot of the story and is from the fundamental character Dawn 's point of view. Day break, his dad, and her more youthful sister from their family convention are headed to ice angle with their uncle, Rick. Her mom does not have any desire to go while her more established sister is keeping an eye on child down the road. Her mom 's explanation behind not going is the way that it was late season, yet in actuality, the guardians are encountering a considerable measure of conjugal issues. In light of run of the mill