Universal Review (Scientific Information and Technological Board of Sadhana)

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Impact Factor: 5.225 Volume 10 Number 02 February 2019

Tracing madness

Mahima Sahi

Psychology, Assistant Professor

MCM DAV College for Women
Sector 36-A, Chandigarh, Pincode- 160036

Abstract

Literature plays a crucial role in shaping the attitudes of a society. Newspapers, magazines, articles and particularly
‘books’ are significant in developing our understanding of interpersonal relationships, social interactions, cultural
variations and existing social, psychological and educational institutions of the society. A relatively permanent ‘shelf life’
of books and their ability to shape mass perceptions via ‘narratives’ makes books the most influential media in educating
the masses about both behavioural excesses and deficits prevailing in the society. The current investigation, therefore,
attempts to review ‘short stories’ of English literature in order to trace literary mentions of the mentally ill in the early
times. Therefore, firstly, it attempts to provide a baseline understanding of the literary depiction of the mental health
system in early English literature. Secondly, it attempts to review the portrayal of the mentally ill and the mental health
system in five ‘short stories’ of English Literature. Lastly, it attempts to provide findings based on the above mentioned
review so as to explain the role of early narratives in influencing the perceptions of the masses about the mental health
system in the recent times.

Key words: books, literature, mentally ill, short stories.

Introduction

The ‘mental health system’ and the ‘mentally ill’ were a popular subject matter as evident in the early works of polish
English writers such as Conrad, Poe, Slinger etc. (Bullis, n.d.). ‘Text’ in fiction and non-fiction based books,
wherein, was significant in shaping mass ideologies about the institution of mental health. This was likely due to two
main reasons:

 lack of technological advances in early times, making ‘text’ as the only viable source of information available
then
 a relatively permanent shelf life of books as compared to the other present media at that time

Literature, therefore, played a significant role in making readers aware of the behavioural excesses and deficits
existing that time. But a limited understanding of the ‘subject matter’ of psychology and an indigenous ‘writing style’
of authors, resulted in forming misconceptions regarding the mental health system (particularly in ‘stories’ which
based on the theme of ‘mental illnesses’). It, therefore, becomes essential to analyze how ‘mentally illness’ got
depicted in the early works of English writers so as to trace how literary works led to an increase in myths related to
mentally illness.

Various literary works in English literature centred around the themes of ‘mental illness’, however, none highlighted
the differences between ‘sanity’ and ‘insanity’ clearly (Larsen, 2015). Mishler (1986), wherein, identified ‘stories’ as
the most essential media to deliver knowledge and construct meaningful ideologies amongst individuals. Thereby,
popular short stories, centring on mental illness in the early times such as, ‘The Idiots’ (Conrad, 1898), published in
‘The Savoy’ magazine, centred on a couple who had children with ‘intellectual disability’ (who were addressed as
‘idiots’ by the society). The society’s demeaning reaction towards the children’s aberrant behavior becomes a
source of shame and embarrassment for the parents, wherein, the mother eventually commits suicide after killing her
husband. Another famous one namely ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish’ (J.D. Slinger, 1953), published in ‘The New
Yorker’ was centred on an ex-army personnel, ‘Seymour’ who gets released from the army after being diagnosed
with a psychiatric condition i.e. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His wife and mother-in-law, however, unable
to understand his behavior, attribute it as ‘bizarre and irrational’. Seymour eventually commits suicide at the end of
the narrative troubled by his PTSD and the inability of others to understand his problem in an empathetic manner.

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Then The Black Cat (Poe, 1843, mentioned in Jeffery 1992), a short story, published in ‘The Saturday Evening Post’,
centred on ‘substance abuse’, wherein, the protagonist who earlier used to love pets and animals starts losing
control over himself after becoming addicted to alcohol resulting in him going on a killing spree. He first kills his
black cat mercilessly by taking out her eyes first and then killing her followed by eventually murdering his own wife,
after consuming excessive alcohol. While, Anne Tyler’s’ ‘Average Waves in Unprotected Waters’ published in The
New Yorker (1977 issue), based on a child (Arnold) with intellectual disability (earlier mental retardation) and his
mother’s decision to institutionalize him for the same was another popular short story. Arnold’s mother decides to get
him admitted in a distant hospital after failing to control his problematic behavior, which is also likely as she is his
only caretaker (their father left them soon after knowing that the protagonist has intellectual disability). She travels
to the hospital with her son and goes around their premises to see his room with the nurse. The nurse suggests her to
not visit Arnold for at least 6 months from now so that he gets used to the hospital routine and doesn’t create any
more trouble. Hearing which she starts crying and goes running back to the station to board her train back to home.

The above listed short stories centring in and on mental illness depicted the writer’s curiosity to take mental illness
as the central theme for their story. However, in order to trace how ideologies regarding mental illness shaped and
changed over a period of time in and via narratives, the current study attempts to analyze popular short stories of
three different era’s i.e. 1800’s, 1900’s and 2000’s. This would not only broaden the understanding of the depiction of
mental illness in literature periodically but also help in deepening the understanding of perceptions towards the
mentally ill.

Short story analysis

ERA: 1800’s

Short Story 1: The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether’ (Edger Allan Poe, 1845)

Mental Illness: System of Institutionalization

Summary: A short story namely ‘The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether’ (Edger Allan Poe, 1845), published in
‘Graham’s Magazine’, was a popular literary account of ‘the system of institutionalization’ used to treat the mentally ill
in early times. It talked about a visitor (narrator) who visits a mental asylum to see the implementation of the ‘system
of soothing’ (a system of humanitarian concern and empathetic regard for the mentally ill), but rather finds another
system initiated by ‘Dr. Tarr’ and ‘Prof. Fether’ i.e. the system of institutionalization, in its place. The system of
institutionalization unlike the system of soothing focused on the ‘institutionalization’ of the mentally ill rather than
treating them empathetically because according to the author the mentally ill did not deserve a liberal humanitarian
treatment.

Analysis: The story solidified the disbelief that, ‘mentally ill’ do not deserve to be treated humanely. The author uses
words such as ‘insane’, ‘madmen’ and ‘lunatics’ to address people admitted at the asylum. This not intensifies the
issue of labelling but rather projects that people with mental illness are individuals not worthy of respect and dignity.

Short Story 2: The Yellow Wall-Paper (Charlotte Perkins Stetson, 1892)

Mental Illness: Pre- partum Depression

Summary: The yellow wall-paper by Stetson got published in the New England Magazine in 1892 (when hysteria was
common especially amongst women). It is based on a woman who is expecting and has been feeling unwell ever
since her pregnancy. Her husband, who is a physician, decides to rent a mansion for summer and move in with his
wife until her delivery. Seeing her deteriorating health, he decides to keep her in the nursery (which has the
maximum windows in the house), not allowing her to do any work or write (which she loves to do) until she starts
feeling well again. The nursery has a yellow wall-paper pasted all over the walls, comprising of patterns and
designs. The woman starts obsessing over the patterns of the yellow wall paper since she is not allowed to work or
go out of the room till she recovers. But instead of recovering she starts feeling gloomy and sad, sitting all by herself
the entire day. She develops a pessimistic thinking pattern and starts visualizing images within the patterns of the

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Index In Cosmos
Impact Factor: 5.225 Volume 10 Number 02 February 2019

wallpaper stuck around the walls of the nursery. At the end of the story she decides to lock herself up in the nursery
perceiving images of her being trapped behind the patters of the yellow wall-paper in the room.

Analysis: The story in set in an era where ‘hysteria’ (experiencing physiological symptoms and emotional
deregulation without any biological basis) was popular amongst women (who were perceived as weak). Even though
the protagonist is having pre-partum depression as evident by the details listed in the story, her husband (who is a
physician) claims it to be hysteria. While, she wants to work, go out and write, her husband decides to keep her
isolated in a room asking her to rest rather than seeking a treatment. In fact he thinks her suffering is irrational and
she is just over thinking about her illness. This projection of depression by the protagonists’ husband who is a
physician creates an impact that a ‘mental condition’ is irrational and baseless as compared to physiological
conditions and doesn’t require any medical treatment.

ERA: 1900’s

Short Story 1: Symbol’s and Signs (Vladimir Nabokov, 1948)

Mental Illness: Referential Mania

Summary: Signs and Symbol’s got published as ‘Symbol’s and Signs’ in The New Yorker in 1948. It centres on the
story of a ‘deranged’ boy (as referred by the author) suffering from ‘referential mania’ (in which one projects his
suspiciousness and hostility on everyone else believing every act done by others is veiled onto them) who is
admitted in an asylum. The protagonist (the ‘deranged’ child) had been different as compared to his age mate’s right
from his childhood. Wherein, instances of sleeplessness, making ‘odd’ drawings, being suspicious and studying in a
special school with other ‘ugly/vicious/backward’ children had been highlighted vividly by the author to depict the
same. On the occasion of his birthday his parents decide to pay him a visit at the asylum but they learn from the staff
that they cannot meet him. The reason cited for this by the staff is, that he had attempted to commit suicide just before
they visited and their visit might disturb him more. His parents, therefore, decide not to visit him and return back
home. They start recalling various events from back in the day such as the subway train losing its current, the late
arrival of the bus and sudden rain followed by getting phone calls from wrong numbers as ‘signs’ of something
dreaded that is likely to occur. Their fear accelerates when the phone rings for the third time while they reach home,
thinking it must be from the asylum to intimate them of their sons’ suicide.

Analysis: Usage of phrases like ‘a deranged child’, ‘ugly/vicious/backward special kids’, ‘being inaccessible to
normal minds’ and ‘transforming into madness’ in the story in relation to the protagonist, highlights that mentally ill
are to be considered ‘subnormal’ as compared to other normal individuals. The intentional/unintentional usage of
terms such as ‘mad’ ‘deranged’ and ‘inaccessibility to normal minds’ by the author wherein could play a role in the
stigma that a person who is suffering from a mental condition, should be considered as a misfit from the mainstream
‘normal’ society.

Short Story 2: Silver Water (Amy Bloom, 1993)

Mental Illness: Schizophrenia

Summary: ‘Silver Water’, a short story, written by Bloom (1993), who herself was a psychotherapist in the U.S. It
centres on the narrators’ (Violet) sister (Rose) a girl who has schizophrenia. Rose has her first ‘psychotic break’ (as
labelled by the author) when she was 15, even though the symptoms of psychosis were prevalent right from her
childhood. Her father was a psychiatrist himself, who knew something was wrong with her, however, her mother
realizes it first that she is ‘going crazy’. The family, wherein, consults various shrinks to get her treated but none
seems to work, until they find Dr. Thorne who treats and manages her behavior well. But, soon he passes away, that
breaks Rose completely and she starts losing control over herself again. She begins to become aggressive and
break things at home as well as bang her head in the walls. The voices in her head take a toll over her and she
eventually hurts her mother (for which she was extremely guilty and ashamed). Realizing what she has done to her
mom, she consumes the entire bottle of her prescribed pills, ultimately resulting in her untimely death.

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Analysis: The story is set realistically well, but considering the author was herself a psychotherapist, usage of terms
like ‘psychotic’, ‘crazy’ ‘going off’, ‘going nuts’, ‘neurotic’ to describe Rose adds to the existing issue of ‘labelling’. It
seems as the advent of the ideology that ‘a person is to be known by their illness and not as an individual’. Also,
usage of such a terminology by a professional could have inspired other writers and given them the leverage to call
the differently able as ‘crazy/mad/nuts/a bit off’ etc. In their own works.

ERA: 2000’s

Short Story 1: Harvey’s Dream (Stephen King, 2003)

Mental Illness: Alzheimer’s

Summary: This short story by Stephen King got published in The New Yorker in 2003. It is based on the protagonist
‘Harvey’, a 60 year old man who is on the advent of Alzheimer’s and is describing the details of a nightmare to his
wife. Harvey, wherein, recounts a horrific incident about a phone call intimating the death of one of their daughters in
a car accident. However, his wife is scared that it mustn’t be only a dream as she can relate the details listed in
Harvey’s dream with the events that occurred that morning. His wife, wherein, is scared that the events might be for
real and Harvey might have forgotten the occurrence of events due to his on setting Alzheimer’s.

Analysis: The situation created by the author even though seems rational and practical but the usage of words like
‘mad’, ‘stupid’, ‘frightening’ instances of Alzheimer’s, ‘psychic’ and ‘Alzheimer’s ghost stories’ by the narrator to
describe Harvey’s condition adds to the already existing stereotypical approach of the general population towards
the mentally ill.

Short Story 2: Backpack (Tony Early, 2018)

Mental Illness: Depression/ Suicide

Summary: The Backpack, published in The New Yorker (2018) is based on the story of a man ‘Jimmy Ray Gallup’ who
is on the verge of committing suicide. Jimmy after being married to Charlotte for 29 years now, feels a lack of
pleasure and excitement in his life. He sets out on a journey to kill himself. He purchases a backpack filling it with a
few things of daily use as well as a loaded gun and a cement block. He boards a train to Lake Superior, wherein, on
his journey he meets a girl Carmey who is travelling to her home town in Indiana. Carmey and Jimmy start to interact
on the journey and Carmey asks Jimmy to stop by at her place for the night and then proceed further. Agreeing to
her friendly offer, Jimmy lands up at her place to spend a night. Carmey, however, suspects something fishy when
she accidently sees his id that doesn’t resonate with the details he disclosed on the journey. She ends up checking
his backpack, to find a loaded gun and cement block. Confronting Jimmy on the same, she finds his plan to kill
himself at the end of his journey. Carmey then informs Charlotte of Jimmy’s plan who comes running to take him
back.

Analysis: The story is a weak narration of a mental illness as severe as depression and suicide. The story begins at a
note where the protagonist is willing to commit suicide, while, already planning for it strategically. However, there
aren’t clear indications of any symptoms of even mild depression in the protagonist. He is purchasing a backpack
and giving away generous compliments to his daughter and his wife before leaving as if nothing has happened at all.
There isn’t any sadness or unpleasantness evident in either his routine or his behavior. This, however, is surprising
for a man who is on the verge of committing suicide (which is the last stage of depression). The depiction can,
wherein, mislead the readers to believe in the myth, ‘that anyone who commits suicide has no reason to end their
life’. The sensitivity with which an issue as fragile as ‘suicide’ should have been handled was missing in the narrative.

Findings & suggestions

Mental health has been tabooed ever since early 16 th and 17th centuries. This stereotypical approach towards the
mentally ill, however, got solidified by articles, news reports, books and other media highlighting the mentally ill in
a negative light. The current study, wherein, attempted to examine how particularly short stories of English literature
played a role in intensifying the stigma attached to the mentally ill considering ‘books’ were a primary and only valid

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Index In Cosmos
Impact Factor: 5.225 Volume 10 Number 02 February 2019

source of information back then. Reviewing stories from different eras did bring to light that even though the
depiction of mentally ill improved over time, but it still lacked rationality and perspective.

Findings

The following are the findings based on the above mentioned review:

 Using words like ‘mad’, ‘crazy’, ‘nuts’ ‘a little off’, ‘insane’, ‘madmen’, ‘lunatic’ and ‘deranged’ were common
even in the works of polish English writers.
 The system of ‘institutionalization’ was highlighted in their texts rather than propagating a humane treatment
for them.
 ‘Females’ were portrayed as having a mental illness more frequently than males, since mental illness was
thought of as something embarrassing and shameful (which made a person weak).
 Scientific terminologies were not highlighted in any of the short stories, even by authors who belonged to a
psychological background such as Amy Bloom in Silver water.
 More sympathy than empathy in relation to the protagonist suffering from mental illness was significant in
almost all the short stories.
 The issue of labelling was visible commonly in each story such as using words like ‘neurotic’, ‘psychotic’
‘crazy person’ ‘Alzheimer’s ghost stories’ in context to the protagonist with mental illness.
 Nothing positive in light of the character having mental illness was portrayed in any of the above listed
stories which further heightened the pessimistic approach attached by the lay men towards the mentally ill.

Suggestions

Based on the above mentioned findings, the following suggestions are thereby recommended:

 The authors’ should be careful in the ‘terminology’ they attach while describing someone with mental illness
in stories, since, ‘stories’ are a significant via media for communicating information.
 Attaching ‘positive’ elements to the character having a mental illness can help in reducing the
marginalization of the mentally ill from the mainstream society. Thus, words like ‘good’, ‘well’, ‘joyous’,
‘happy’ should be used more often in relation to the protagonist to signify that there is more to them than
their illness. Usage of words like ‘sad’, ‘pessimistic’, ‘ugly’, ‘vicious’, ‘frightening’ to describe them, wherein,
should be minimized.
 The issue of labelling could be reduced to an extent if the writers start addressing the individual with mental
illness as a ‘person having a mental illness’ (an individual first and a mental illness next) rather than
describing them as a ‘mentally ill person’ (illness first and a person next).
 The topic of mental illness and the mentally ill should be dealt with empathy rather than sympathy since it is a
sensitive topic that is already surrounded by myths.
 Males and females should be equally portrayed as having mental illness since mental illness has nothing to
do with the gender.
 Self blame amongst the families of those having mental illness should be replaced with self belief of handing
a difficult child with patience and empathy.

References

1. Bullis, H. (n. d.): A Crazy Perspective: An Analysis of Mental Illness in Literature and How it Connects with
Society, Carnegie Vanguard High School, Houston.
2. Conrad, J. (1898): The Idiots, Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, Amazon.co.uk, Ltd. Marston Gate,
Great Britain.
3. Early, T. (2018): Backpack, The New Yorker, Retrieved from www.newyorker.com
4. Jeffrey, M. (1992): Edgar Allan Poe: his life and legacy, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York City, pp. 137.
5. King, S. (2003): Harvey’s Dream, Retrieved from www.newyorker.com

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6. Koss, M.D. & Teale, W.H. (2009): Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, What’s happening in YA literature?
Trends in books for adolescents, Volume 52 No. VII, pp. 563-572.
7. Larsen, M. S. (2015): Mental Illness in Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
(Unpublished Masters Thesis), The Arctic University of Norway, Norway.
8. Mishler, E. G. (1986): Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
9. Nabokov, V. (1948): Reference Guide to Short Fiction, Signs and Symbols, Retrieved from
www.encyclopedia.com
10. Perkins, S.C. (1892): The New England Magazine, The Yellow Wall-paper, Volume 11 No. 5.
11. Poe, E. A. (1845): Mental Health in Literature (2005 ed.), The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether, Lyceum Books,
Inc., Illinois.
12. Salinger, J. D. (1953); Reference Guide to Short Fiction, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Retrieved from
www.encyclopedia.com
13. Tyler, A. (1977): The New Yorker, Average waves in unprotected waters, Retrieved from www.newyorker.com

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