Define “Normal,” Please.

The memoir Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen gives the reader an intimate look into her life as a teenager with mental health issues. Sent by her parents and doctor, Kaysen checks into McLean Hospital to undergo treatments for what they consider to be “borderline personality disorder.” Her “symptoms include, but are not limited to”: depression, self-image disorder, promiscuity, self-consciousness, anxiety, suicidal behaviors, etc. Kaysen introduces the reader to many different characters: the girls she befriends while at McLean, including Lisa, Georgina and Daisy. Their antics and outbursts, breakdowns and laughter are all described in great detail in this memoir–it is as if you are sitting there with Kaysen in the television room at “this place.” One can easily relate to Kaysen. Her words are straight-forward and her stream-of-consciousness is easy to follow and, in fact, easily relatable. She describes herself in such a way that the reader realizes that she is just a normal teenager. Her symptoms are those of any high school senior who goes through struggles and difficult times with teachers, parents and boyfriends, yet those closest to her find that she may be “crazy.” Kaysen describes what it means to be “crazy” while in McLean, and also what her parents think it means to be “crazy,” yet she does not tell the reader what she, personally, thinks is “crazy.” Reading this book, it almost feels as if Kaysen is an outsider looking in because she is so, oddly, normal. “Stranger things have happened.”

I truly enjoyed reading this book. Kaysen’s writing brings forth thoughtful insights about the notion of “crazy.” Who’s to say that Suzanna is actually crazy? Every other teenager at that time was doing exactly what she was doing–maybe even more, and, especially, more dangerous things. Kaysen is a teenager at the time of Vietnam, Watergate and the sexual revolution. Her place in upper class society does not allow for anything to happen “outside the box.” She thinks in a way that is very much outside of the lines of “normal” thoughts, or the thoughts of her social class. Does Kaysen even belong in this institution? To me, this memoir reads like a self-discovery of thought and self-image. What makes Susanna, Susanna? She is not a conventional person, thus this experience seems as if it is a journey that an artist must take as a “coming-of-age” ritual. Kaysen even states that McLean has been the temporary home of many artists and writers, such as Ray Charles, James Taylor and Sylvia Plath, thus she joins this list of various masters-of-craft. Susanna looks at things in her life and steps back; she thinks logically. Her logic is seen as insanity. She does not let the system define her; she defines herself. Life in the “real world” is not normal–the world is in constant chaos and her social class’ hold on people is like a boa constrictor claiming its prey through its stronghold. Her world inside of the hospital and inside of her head is normal; she analyzes things, thougfully examines her life and knows that the world is not always so black-and-white and not always so “good.” She discusses things that are usually considered “taboo.” Normal worlds discuss these things; natural worlds discuss these topics.

In my opinion, Kaysen is stuck in a parallel universe of normality. She has moved from the unnatural world of the upper class restraint and the “real world” of chaos, and moved to a world where she can just be herself, for once. This story details the journey of an artist trapped in a world that doesn’t accept artists. She is trapped in a world where her thoughts are seen as insane and crazy. This “trip to the loony bin” is her experience to explore her creativity and discover that she is, in fact, normal. She is a writer stuck in a word of non-writers.