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Summary Of Girl Interrupted By Susanna Kaysen

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Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen examines her mental illness in a way that is honest and relatable to readers who have experienced similar difficulties themselves. The choice of vignettes allowed her to capture major occurrences at a quick pace, this packed the memoir with insight into a suffering mind. The way Kaysen wrote about the personalities she was surrounded with in a way that allowed for a closer examination of herself is telling for the major theme. This memoir is very much Susana’s, however it too belongs to the patients around her. It shows how observance to those around her helped her to understand herself, and ultimately guided her to her final revelation. When Polly is introduced into the plot is when readers get more information about Susana. It’s almost as if meeting a new patient equals new audience enlightenment. Kaysen writes, “Who would kiss a person like that, a person with no skin?” (18). This …show more content…

Momentarily wandering free of her boyfriend’s smalltalk is when she revisits the one painting she remembers. Kaysen describes the girl in the painting, “She was looking out, looking out at someone who would see her” (167). This moment is when Susana finally grasps onto what she had been looking for during her years of being lost. I think she saw herself in that painting, and was able to recognize the pain on someone else’s face; allowing her to connect the dots leading back to herself. After telling her boyfriend that the painted girl needs help he shuts her down, representing how life treated Susana when she was struggling the most. A total realization of events taking place around her, only to be met by destruction of that very idea. This description is full of negativity, but also hope. The symbolism behind this vignette is what leads me to believe that Kaysen meant to integrate emotion and events to mean more than their literal

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