Parallel Universes Of The Sane And Insane - Research Paper Example

Parallel Universes Of The Sane And Insane Kaysen, in “Girl, Interrupted,” writes subtlety opting to state her point but not overly emphasize the same. A careful reading and rereading of the novel will lead you to the points that she wishes the reader to learn from her own experiences and understanding. “And it is easy to slip into a parallel universe. There are so many of them: worlds of the insane, the criminal… These worlds exist alongside this world and resemble it, but are not in it.” (Kaysen, 5) In these simple words she has defined what a parallel universe is and amidst the enumeration she has incorporated the thesis of her novel which is the exploration of the parallel universe of the insane and conversely, the sane. Si-Ming Lee in her paper “Parallel Universes,” states that the novel “describes Kaysen’s struggle to transcend across the boundary that separates her from two parallel universes: the worlds of sanity and insanity, security and vulnerability.” It is the continual internal struggle of Kaysen that propelled this novel to become one of the memorable films in 1993. People had to verify that their internal struggles are normal, that the stages of thought and deliberation are simply necessary. They had to know when and in what circumstances will it be considered as crossing the boarders into the parallel universe of the insane. The genuine rationale for the success of the book and the film according to a review, published in the World Socialist Web Site is because: “Kaysen believes that people are curious about the circumstances of her hospital stay primarily to discover whether they might find themselves in the same situation. “It’s easy,” she says to find oneself in a ”parallel universe” of mental illness…Most people suffering from mental illness do not enter the parallel universe immediately, Kaysen says. Instead, they catch brief glimpses of this other world where everything is different, including time, the laws of physics, and even the way everyday things appear to the eye. Eventually, the temptation to cross over is irresistible, and the alternate reality replaces the familiar. Once in the parallel universe, one is perfectly aware of the world left behind.” All throughout the novel Kaysen makes mention of the parallel universe especially when she is deep in thought. Although again not as obvious but subtle hints as she analyzes her reactions to things around her trying to determine and rationalize to which universe they belong- the sane or insane. The best example of all, and one which will give meaning to the title occurs in the last few pages of the novel. As the reader reaches the remaining 10 pages of the book, one identifies Kaysen as the “Girl, Interrupted” only to find out in the last 4 pages that there is another one that Kaysen compares herself to. Does the “Girl, Interrupted” also lives in a parallel universe? Kaysen retells their first meeting: “I walked passed the lady in yellow robes and the maid bringing her a letter, past the soldier with a magnificent hat and the girl smiling at him, thinking of warm lips, brown eyes, blue eyes. Her brown eyes stopped me…a girl looks out, ignoring her beefy music teacher… I looked into her brown eyes and I recoiled. She was warning me of something--- she had looked up from her work to warn me. Her mouth was slightly open, as if she had just drawn a breath in order to say to me, “Don’t!” I moved backward, trying to get beyond the range of her urgency. But her urgency filled the corridor. “Wait,” she was saying, “wait! Don’t go!” I didn’t listen to her. I went out to dinner with my English teacher, and he kissed me, and I went back to Cambridge… eventually, I went crazy.” (Kaysen, 165-6) Had Kaysen heeded this girls warning, she would not have done the succeeding actions that led her to go over the edge. Sixteen years passed and they again met, Kayzen recounts: “She had changed a lot in sixteen years. She was no longer urgent. In fact, she was sad. She was young and distracted, and her teacher was bearing down on her, trying to get her to pay attention. But she was looking for someone who would see her. This time I read the title of the painting: “Girl Interrupted at Her Music.” (Kaysen, 167) It is only in their second meeting that Kaysen acknowledges that the girl she saw was a mere painting. In fact the manner in which she describes their first meeting shows that to her at that particular time that was real when in fact it was already the beginnings of her parallel universe of the insane. Her descriptions of the people she passed before their eyes met were actually other paintings on exhibit: The other two are self-contained paintings. The people in them are looking at each other – the lady and her maid, the soldier and his sweetheart. Seeing them is peeking at them through a hole in a wall. And the wall is made of light—that entirely credible yet unreal Vermeer light. (Kaysen, 168) As Kaysen recounts their 1st and 2nd meetings, Kaysen shows that she has gained the understanding to differentiate both worlds and knows now that she belongs to the world of the sane. This is proved further in that she is able to analyze their commonality: Interrupted at her music: as my life had been, interrupted in the music of being seventeen, as her life had been, snatched and fixed on canvas: one moment made to stand for all the other moments, whatever they would be or might have been. What life can recover from that? (Kaysen, 167) The years at the asylum were truly a waste. The time spent pondering about the parallel universe of the sane and insane-- Where does one end and the other begins?-- consumed several years of her life. Life and time that can never be turned back. Had she finally truly understood, separated and delineated these worlds so that she can be truly cured? Her reaction of crying at the plight of the girl in the painting shows that she has not. She cried and muttered that the girl was trying to get out of the painting. With this example, one sees that there is no absolute cure. If being cured means the ability to totally separate these parallel universes then there is no cure. Primarily because it is not possible to separate these parallel worlds. As Kaysen shifts from one parallel universe to the other even after she was released from the asylum is proof that one cannot. One has to exist for the other to take shape. How can one define sanity without limiting the concept of insanity? When Kaysen told her boyfriend that the girl was trying to get out of the painting, a seemingly insane thought was considered otherwise by her boyfriend. He responds with: “All you ever think about is yourself. You don’t understand anything about art.” (Kaysen, 167) To him, she was not insane. She was merely self absorbed. It is this trait that made her see things differently. She interpreted the same painting differently on two occasions in her life. The painting when she first laid eyes on it appeared to be real. Her description of the girl and the scenario pertained to her very own feelings of urgency. She knew that she had to stop what she was doing, to turn around from the path she was following and take control of her life. She had to do what was right. But she didn’t. And that is where she lost it. Her first interpretation was clouded with her reactions to what was happening in her life then. In the 2nd interpretation, done 16 years after, when the circumstances of her life has changed she was able to see the painting for what it really was. The response of the boyfriend indicates that there is no clear distinction of borders between the parallel universes. Self absorption coupled with the luxury of time to indulge in analyzing all that happens in ones’ life is a peril that leads one to the course of insanity. This analysis is similar to Si-Ming Lee’s interpretation of Kaysens’ illness: “Kaysen’s Borderline Personality Disorder becomes a metaphor itself for how she teetered along the narrow boundary separating the parallel universe of reality from another reality magnified to the point of delusion that it becomes the seed of insanity.”(Si-Ming Lee, 1) These internal discourses arising from such self absorption, tests the boundaries of these parallel universes. The key is knowing their existence, understanding ones reactions to ones very own surroundings and keeping oneself within the borders of the sane. Kaysen seeks to let her readers understands this. Her initial reaction when she met the “Girl” displayed her inner fears of being discovered veering from the right path. But years after her interpretation of the very same painting has changed. She is able to appreciate the painting for what it was, as a depiction of life. “The girl at her music sits in another sort of light, the fitful, overcast light of life, by which we see ourselves and others only imperfectly, and seldom.”(Kaysen, 168) Works Cited Kaysen, S. Girl, Interrupted. Virago Books Inc: Great Britain. 1993 Si-Ming Lee, J. Parallel Universes. Wellesley College. Retrieved on 4/11/10 at http://www.jsiming.com/parallel_universes.htm World Socialist Web Site. Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Retrieved on 4/12/10 at http://wsws.org/articles/2000/jan2000/girl-j27.shtml Read More