Biography details:
“A Girl Interrupted”
Author: Susanne Kaysen
Publication date: April 19, 1994
Publisher: Vintage
Summary:
In the story “Girl Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen, the author reflects on the point of time in her life that she spent in a mental institution. To her, it all happened very quickly. One moment she was awoken early in the morning, the next moment she was at the doctor’s office and no more than half an hour later she was checking herself into a mental institution. She introduces us to many of the friends she acquired, often times explaining their conditions as well as the conditions of others. She for example suffers from a “character disorder”. Susanna Kaysen explains each and every symptom a person with it would deal with on a day to basis. A “character disorder” consists of symptoms of instability and self-mutilating, etc.
In that one year she spent at the mental facility Susanna Kaysen exposed us to the exact reason she was there. She had a break down at the doctor’s office because he refused to tell her how long it took him to remove her wisdom tooth. Due to this she Kaysen felt as though she “lost time” and she began to cry; her mental health is questioned. At this point, she begins to look for a job but is constantly rejected because of her mental health. She begins to question her sanity, which is a good sign. It took some time but Susanna Kaysen was finally released.
Quotation:
“You can’t call a piece of fruit an apple when you want to eat it and a dandelion when you don’t want to eat it” (Kaysen 42).
Quotation Context:
Considering her condition, Susanna Kaysen is carelessly honest and blunt. That is the type of attitude she has throughout the book. When she expresses herself, she holds nothing back but the way in which she does it is different from others. The quote previously stated is an important one to understand because if you don’t understand it, you will not understand Susanna Kaysen. Because this book is about her as well as her life, you would not understand the book overall. By this quote Susanna Kaysen simply means that you can’t force something to be what it is not just because you feel to; that’s not how things work. Once you understand Susanna Kaysen’s many different attitudes and styles you’ll be able to understand any book.
