Susanna Kaysen's Journal-Memoir, Girl, Interrupted Essay example

Another main character, Kattie Strickland, faces her own unique set of challenges, some of which began even before she arrives at Clinton. Kattie was forced to leave her children behind in order to follow her dreams. Instead of constantly feeling sorry for herself, she uses her kids as motivation, and even sends most of her income back to support them. Kattie faces additional setbacks at Clinton itself, as she is treated differently due to her being African American. The guards would randomly force their way in to her living space and search it for no real reason. Kattie’s husband was also not allowed to go to where she lived onsite at the facility, but the couple easily got around this rule by going to where her husband lived (albeit on a curfew). As time went on, she began making more money and in turn sent more funds back to her kids. Despite the odds being against her, Kattie still managed to surpass her problems and achieve her dream, assisting her

Through traumatic events many people lose their sanity. Some people are born insane, while others are driven to their breaking point by life experiences. In the memoir “Night” insanity is a major theme, through various characters like Mrs. Shockter and Moishe the beedle. In “Night” insanity is experienced through horrific events and continues to make itself present throughout the book.

Overall the book gives a level of depth and openness that was startling as an uninformed individual. As the book is a direct insight to Lori’s schizophrenic mind as she recalls in detail her thoughts and experiences revolving her stays in the psychiatric ward and halfway houses. Indeed the progression of Lori’s illness is reflected in the author of the chapters in her book. For in the middle of the book, where Lori is in the depths of her psychosis, the story is carried on by her parents

First off, the hospitals are no longer referred to as insane asylums, they are referred to as mental hospitals, rehab, and so on. The daily schedule in hospitals today is very similar to the hospitals in the 1920’s. The day starts with a wake up call then seven o’clock breakfast is served (O’Brien). Both then and now hospitals had outburst in patients. A patient may screem when not agree with the doctors, grabbing others attention, or a patient might react rationally.

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.

The Diary of Anne Frank is about a girl that kept a diary while hiding from Nazi’s in Amsterdam for two years. The diary ends when the Nazi’s found her and her family. Her whole family was killed in exception for her father. She was given the journal on her thirteenth birthday. She simply summarized her life for two years in this phenomenal journal.

The snow had all but melted away and the smell of spring filled the air. Just a few months of school were left; it was my eighth grade year. Much preparation and months of work had been done to get ready for the last dance of the year. It was the last dance of our middle school career and the excitement was building.

After saying goodbye to her family, she describes being processed into the correctional facility. While in prison, she keeps to herself in order to survive while observing the mayhem around her. Jennifer decides to use her skills to help other inmates.

The patients take advantage of their situation in ways that they never thought possible before. What is so significant is that the ward has been trying so hard to keep the patients as weak and feeble as possible, giving the impression that they are the lowest in the human societal network, and yet they are able to find strength and courage just by embracing their true identities.

The narrator mentions how at times she was worried about where the food went proving she wasn't used to the abundance of food because she used to belong to the lower class and sometimes she probably didn't have enough

This place reminded her of the hospital in some ways, more so because she felt trapped. The bars on the window seemed all too familiar, and worse yet another locked

She becomes numb and looses her memory all for her family. After she regains almost all of her memories, she remembers that she had a son. She remembers that he died young, but she also remembers him older. She remembers everything. Dan and Natalie would like her to go back on her medication and try again but she refuses.

her life around to fit in with the crowd . She is soon exposed to drugs, sex and violence. It

She cleaned up the streets and the repair man came and helped put up new walls to her home. Later that afternoon she had found her mom's favorite recipe it was steak and green beans and potatoes. She made that out of the leftover stuff in metal boxes that her and momma had stored before the volcano erupted she baked in her new bakery.

"Lindy!" Mother jumped, and sucked her burnt finger, then turned back to the frying pan, stirring the cabbage and onions with one hand and reaching for the seasonings above the stove with the other, tossing celery seed in to sizzle and pop. She shook her head and sighed, "Oh, child," as she pulled the worn wooden board from its shelf, cut brown bread in thick slices, let the pieces fall into a basket, and brushed the crumbs into the sink. She placed pumpkin seeds and thin slices of Gouda together on a tray. For the occasional male visitor the women would fry fish, but they themselves did not eat meat.