Summary Of Girl Interrupted By Susanna Kaysen

The Erlking by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum confused me, even though the interpretation sounded interesting and fantastical. At first, I wondered if my confusion dealt with me not reading or hearing about “Der Erlkönig” before. After thinking that, I read the poem online; I really liked the poem because of creepy it is. I saw some correlations with Bynum’s version, but confusion still lingered in my head. I’m thinking a combination of the story structure and the lore (the fairies and elves) didn’t mix well with me.

Girl, Interrupted Girl, Interrupted is a memoir about a young woman named Susanna Kaysen. She is admitted into a psychiatric ward and plans to stay temporarily however, she stays for about two years. This book was written in 1993 by Susanna Kaysen. She recalls her meetings with others at the ward, when she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder and other events such as her attempted suicide and medication.

The moment she gave birth something sunk into her mind, that she could never fully comprehend until that moment. As she holds her child in her arms, taking extra precautions, so that her child doesn’t get hurt, she realizes that it is now her job to take care of her baby. That her biggest concern is no longer herself, but the child who was not in her arms yesterday. That yesterday’s problems are no longer of concern to her. That it is her job to provide and raise a human being.

The novel The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse, explains the concept of borderline through the life of Aurora and her half-sister Angie by showing how they felt divided into both sides of either looking for a better life outside of Echo Park or staying there as how their parents did. Through the sisters’ life’s, I learned how the people around you and your choices can cause you to be in a borderline that could be difficult to decide what you want in life. Borderline is the “frontera”, but in the novel borderline is presented as in the space in which the two sisters are in and how they have two pathways to follow and they don’t know what to do since the people around them contribute to them being in a borderline. In chapter 2, Aurora’s borderline is presented with her wanting to have the big house and money Mrs. Calhoun, Felicia’s boss, had which is shown when she is invited to have a pool party with her friends there.

In the book Nineteen Minutes, Josie Cormier and her schoolmates were having a normal day of school when suddenly a school shooting began. Sterling police showed up and Detective Patrick Durchame headed in the school, ignoring protocol. Patrick looked throughout the school to find the shooter who turned out to be Peter Houghton, and Josie and Matt were found with him. Josie was still alive while Matt, Josie's boyfriend, was dead. There were ten people who died during the shooting.

“Channel your struggles to win,” says Rick Springfield. That was his tip to success that he fully believes in. Beneath it all, the man behind the music has been struggling. It may not be evident during his performances and interviews but he has been fighting a disease for a long time. And he doesn’t plan on losing to it.

The book, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen starts off with, Annabel is going back to school with a best friend who hates her, a not so good personal secret, a modeling career that she no longer wants, and a family life that is going through tough times. Annabel meets Owen, her life starts to get slowly but surely better. He encourages her to tell the truth at all times and she becomes more comfortable adding in her own opinions. Annabel finds out that a former friend has went through the same things she has- Annabel freaks out with this information. She withdraws more and bails on Owen at the show because her head is spinning.

How patients with mental disabilities’ treatment has changed over the years is drastic, and deserves to be noted. In the past, the patients were treated very poorly. According the Szasz, it was once believed that mental illness was caused by demonic possession, witchcraft, or an angry god. For example, in medieval times, odd behaviors were a sign that the person was possessed by demons. From the 1400s to the 1600s, a common belief sustained by religious organizations was that some people made pacts with the devil and committed terrible acts, such as eating babies.

As a foster parent, she grew an attachment for the child and loved him, but torn at the fact that she was not his real mom. In effect of having to take a child from their real birth mother, it is often a challenge for most foster parents. She describes the hatred she once had towards the biological mother and how afraid she was in possibly never seeing her child again. She learned to overcome the feeling of hatred and was appreciative of the fact that the woman gave her son the gift of life, and brought him into the world (Russell para 4). After all, these children deserve a chance to have a family who loves them as if they were their own.

“It won’t happen to you, honey. Some people go crazy and some never do. You never will,”(1). “Silver Water” is a short story about a girl with a mental illness that was written by Amy Bloom. The story is told from Violet’s, Rose’s sister, point of view about Rose and what she goes through.

The 2000’s was a very intense decade, with the occurrence of 9/11 which led to the War in Iraq. A year after 2000, HBO released a documentary named “Bellevue, inside Out” by Maryann DeLeo. In this documentary, the viewer gets to take a look inside Bellevue Hospital located in New York City, which contains a psychiatric institution. The film captures about 12 months inside the psychiatric unit in this hospital. The documentary follows both the employees, such as the emergency room directors, psychiatrists, nurses, etc., as well as the patients admitted into the psychiatric emergency room.

In the novel, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie is tortured by being dehumanized and isolated while being a POW. Throughout the book, Louie is being treated poorly by his captors, but resisted giving up. One example is in chapter 17, Louie was being transported to a camp and is put on the ground. The text states, “Louie said something to Phil and immediately felt a boot kick into him...” (page 181).

Randle McMurphy enters the mental institute with an attitude thinking he outsmarted the government by escaping hard work; ultimately leading him to see himself superior to the other patients. Randle McMurphy was initially brought to the psych ward because he convinced the military jail that he was psychotic. According to the military, McMurphy charged with statutory rape and it is this charge that set the story into play. “‘...and one arrest- for Rape… with a child of fifteen’”(45). R.P. McMurphy manipulated the system into thinking he was crazy.

In “Girl Unprotected”, Sports writer and journalist Laura Robinson argues that if you examine the Judicial system, then you will find a strong bias against victims of hockey abuses with an emphasis against women. Throughout her essay, Robinson uses the case against Mike Danton and the NHL to emphasize the issues of gender inequality and the lack of recognition to the abuses in hockey. In her essay, Laura Robinson begins her argument by claiming that “women’s bodies were only allowed to be adjectives to describe men” (Robinson 326). By doing so, she suggests that women’s bodies are all that the men in hockey care about while their mind’s and talents are ignored and lack in value. To reinforce her thesis, Robinson also includes a quote from a

Susanna has issues in all types of relationships in her life, regarding that she does not have a concrete relationship with her parents, and does not seem to have any friends, due to her clear fear of abandonment. In the beginning of her stay at McLean, Susanna viewed the other patients as crazy, and truly had mental illness, unlike her. Ultimately she was able to develop friendships with the other patients, resulting in them helping each other throughout the movie. Susanna self destructive behavior stems from her troubling childhood caused by emotional problems from her parents. An example of what has caused