Isolation and Space in Dahmer

 As I read My Friend Dahmer this summer, I found myself really noticing the theme of isolation in the book (perhaps because I was also focused on that in The Lovely Bones - if you want to know more - see my posting about the penguin in the snowglobe). Not only was Jeff Dahmer alone on a regular basis, but even when he was with others, he found ways to separate himself through his behavior, his drinking, his choice to go to the shed behind his house. He is portrayed as a 'loner' in Backderf's book through the visual representations as well: in the "Prologue," Jeff is shown as a tiny image on the bottom right of page 13; the road, which is stretched out before him, rolls and shows a combination of dark and light spaces. But Jeff is located proximal to the darkest part of the road, which moves from the dark forest (often used in literature as a representation of the base part of human nature - the wildness of human beings) to the brighter city (which is connected - notice the telephone poles and wires).

Here is a discussion of the concept of isolation from Peter Gutiérrez. (Peter is a spokesperson on comics and graphic novels for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and is a frequent contributor to School Library Journal.) This excerpt is taken from the Teacher's Guide, page 2):

In an online review of My Friend Dahmer for Time, Lev Grossman writes about the feeling of isolation that Dahmer felt. In the late 1970s,
“there was no Internet and no cell phones. Back then you could actually be alone, truly, deeply alone and isolated in a way that’s almost
impossible now. There was no Twitter, no Facebook, no global network of electronic confi dences and confessions open 24/7. Whatever was
going wrong in your house, and in your head, you dealt with it, or not, by yourself in your room.” 

Thinking about Snow Globes and Lovely Bones

In terms of The Lovely Bones, this time, I was thinking about the penguin in the snowglobe and its connection to the people in Sebold's story. Here is the quote from the epitaph: "Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, 'Don't worry Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world."' At first I thought the penguin was Susie, trapped in her perfect heaven. But instead of focusing on the penguin this time, I'm focused on Susie's concern for the penguin, who perhaps represents her family members who are trapped in their physicality and in time as well. They cannot escape the tragedy of the loss of Susie Salmon, and though they can run away (like Abigail) or obsess over not being able to protect Susie (like Jack or Len), they are trapped in their grief. Here's a picture of a penguin in a snowglobe that reminds me of the one in the novel. http://www.milanoworldwide.com/picts/Prosperity%20Key%20Chaines%20and%20Pictures%20Snow%20Globes/Key%20Chain%201.5%20inches%20Plastic%20Snow%20Globe%20Penguin.jpg ALSO - Here is a poem you might enjoy by Theodore Roethke which talks about a woman,"lovely in her bones." I recommend you listen to him reading the poem aloud; I love the movement - and the power of his phrasing reminds me of the power of Susie Salmon over her attacker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcjk6jrPZnA I Knew a Woman I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one: The shapes a bright container can contain! Of her choice virtues only gods should speak, Or English poets who grew up on Greek (I'd have them sing in chorus, cheek to cheek.) How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin, She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and stand; She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin: I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand; She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake, Coming behind her for her pretty sake (But what prodigious mowing did we make.) Love likes a gander, and adores a goose: Her full lips pursed, the errant note to seize; She played it quick, she played it light and loose; My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees; Her several parts could keep a pure repose, Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose (She moved in circles, and those circles moved.) Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay: I'm martyr to a motion not my own; What's freedom for? To know eternity. I swear she cast a shadow white as stone. But who would count eternity in days? These old bones live to learn her wanton ways: (I measure time by how a body sways.)

Blogging in Good Books - Week 3-4

I am hoping that as we move into the reading of My Friend Dahmer and The Lovely Bones that students will post not only to their own blogs but also in response to each others' blogs (including mine).

I am truly enjoying reading everyone's blogs in EN 110 but am surprised that no one is posting in response to anyone else's blog. Perhaps the discussion in EduCat (our NMU Moodle system) is working well, and we don't need the blogs to extend the conversation. Perhaps it's hard to remember to go to the list of student blogs that I created and posted each week and visit them. Perhaps everyone's busy. I'm not really sure.

My intention with including blogs in this class is to encourage students to express themselves through a new format, to encourage conversations between/among students, and to encourage reflection upon the books we are reading.

Thanks for listening. I hope that sharing this will inspire people to share more and to talk about how blogging in this class is/is not beneficial to them individually or as a group.

Kia Jane :)

Moving from The Quiet Room and into The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

I'm thinking =====Thinking:

As I finish up reading the postings and blogs and papers in response to The Quiet Room, I am blown away by students' insight into how the stories in Lori Schiller's book seem to complicate the stories we have already heard about mental illness through film, television, advertising, etc.

We are bombarded with advertisements about various medications that can help individuals with mental illnesses such as depression, OCD, schizophrenia, etc. This is new to those of us who grew up in the 20th century and got our medical information from friends (often in whispered conversations) and from doctors (and sometimes, only if we asked for help).
FOr instance, I have seen this commercial many times this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGymr78FtbU

And this one, more recently, about Seroquel XR:
http://alittlespark.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/new-seroquel-xr-commercial/
Note that the blogger makes a reference to the cloud that follows the depressed people around.

I'm wondering if Lori Schiller made a commercial for Clozapine, what it would look like.
I'm thinking it would include clouds, blobs, Voices, and some weird outfits.

Did you know that in 1994 Lori Schiller (Baach)was"approached by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (now Novartis), the makers of Clozaril [...] to tour the country on their behalf" - giving speeches about her life with support from her mother who traveled with her? Wow!  ("Afterword" - added in 2011, p. 267)

If I were doing a commercial for the various medicines I've been on over the years, I think I would have to include music as a key part, and I'd have to invite Adam Ant to be in the commerical (even though he lives with bi-polar disorder and I have anxiety and dysthymia (low grade depression), I have loved his music for 30+ years, and I think he'd have a lot to say about living with  mental illness. :)
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-adam-ant-on-returning-to-music-from-bipolar-disorder-20130219
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/9809653/Adam-Ant-interview-You-should-never-feel-ashamed-of-madness.html

Kia Jane

Reading Essays about The Quiet Room and Films About Mental Illness

I am really impressed with the class's ability to discuss similarities and differences between The Quiet Room and various films students self-selected (including Girl, Interrupted; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Silver Linings Playbook, etc.). My students are talking about character motivations, actions, personalities, relationships, struggles, and choices. They are also sharing a lot of insight into the reasons for mental illness stigmas and stereotypes.

As I am grading their essays in response to the assignment to compare/contrast Schiller's book with a film  (or to "The Yellow Wallpaper" if a film is not available), I find myself going back to the text of The Quiet Room, looking at specific passages and considering Lori's illness and how it developed in her life as a teenager and into her twenties and thirties. I am thinking also about the people I know who have mental illness and how their diseases changed over time, in most cases getting worse unless treatment (medical, psycholocial, social) was sought and followed consistently.

I know, too, that one of the movies that I watched on Lifetime, called Obsessed (2002) which starred Jenna Elfman, was a film that I believe could be compared easily to The Quiet Room. This film, which was based on a true story about a woman named Diane Schaefer, who was obsessed with a cancer specialist Brennan Murray,  features a character named Ellena Roberts, who imagined a relationship with a doctor and who had a hallucination about a woman named Charlotte who seemed to be her friend. Even though the movie was not about schizophrenia (but erotomania), the fact that Ellena frequently interacted with a hallucination and was not aware of the reality in which she lived made me think of Lori's discussions of her visions and Voices.
Thanks -
Kia Jane

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325322/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm#cast

http://www.examiner.com/article/obsessed-true-story-based-on-diane-schaefer-dr-murray-brennen-erotomania-case

The Quiet Room

The Quiet Room has really opened my eyes to how schizophrenia is experienced not only by the person who is diagnosed with it but also by family, friends, strangers, and medical professionals.

Lori Schiller's story is one that I first read about twelve years ago. I was looking for a good book to read about schizophrenia because I enjoy reading books about people who struggle/live with mental illness. I had just read When Rabbits Howl by Truddi Chase (after seeing her on the Oprah show), and I wanted something that was different from what was then called multiple personality disorder (now called disassociative identity disorder), and I found The Quiet Room. From the first moment I read her writing, I was hooked. Here are a few of her words from an article I found:

"I remember little of what happened in my life in the past eight years -- probably because of 21 shock treatments. I suppose it's a lot like an alcoholic's blackout. Life seems dark, scary and fragmented. I battled strange, ominous Voices and Sights in a forever tormented day-to-day nightmare. I couldn't get relief from my psychotic world. I wanted to die desperately in an effort to free myself from this world. The first time I heard those derogatory Voices was as a teenager. I didn't know what was happening to me. I felt like I was possessed, and my mind was infected by demonic spirits.


I was afraid to tell anyone about the Voices for fear of being carried off by the "white coats." Imagine being a 15 year-old kid hearing the words over and over again: "You must die. You will die." And, imagine a naive little squirt keeping the echoing vicious Voices inside of herself for many, many years without sharing the pain and fright with anyone. Eventually, I entered the "revolving door" into the so-called mental health system. The doctors, so dapper and professional in their psychiatric style and attire, told my parents that I was a paranoid schizophrenic who had little chances of getting better. My diagnosis was just another "sick chronic psychiatric patient" to be shoved away forever in some hospital. I can imagine how crushed my parents were, with their ignorance about mental illness and suffering along with me. But they didn't give up hope. Never."
http://www.schizophrenia.com/newsletter/1296/1296schiller.htm

Though I have never dealt with schizophrenia, I have struggled with depression (both situational and clinical) and anxiety disorder. I have attended counseling (individual and group), taken medications, and read many books on the subject. This year, I was part of a self-acceptance panel sponsored by NMU's Women for Women group, where I spoke about being a successful professional who lives with anxiety/depression. The response I received was very positive, and it reaffirmed my desire to teach this class as one focused on mental health issues. I believe that reading about these issues helps people to break down the stigma attached to them.

BLOG ONE - Module ONE

What do you already know about mental illness? How has literature (stories, films, books) or popular culture (advertisements, television, radio, music, etc.)  shaped what you know about mental illness?

Kia's response:
I feel like I know a lot about mental illness; at the same time, I know very little. I have always been interested in reading about/exploring stories about people dealing with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar issues, etc. I remember as a high school and college student reading not only fiction and drama about individuals with mental illness but also nonfiction written about/by people with mental illness. Some of my favorite texts as a teen included William Styron's Darkness Visible, Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, Go Ask Alice, and Willam Inge's Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

A lot of what I know about mental illness comes from courses I took in college as a Psychology (and English) major. Of course, that was in the eighties, and since then, many things have been reexamined, relabeled, or redefined.

Finally, I have watched many films about people with mental illness, such as Sybil, The Snake Pit, Primal Fear, and  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Other films (television) include Call Me Crazy, Strange Voices, Obsessed, The Deliberate Stranger, The Hillside Strangler, etc.

One thing I've noticed about how mental illness portrayals in recent video/television is that they are equal in terms of gender; that is, individuals who deal with psychological issues are both male and female. A recent study notes: "Men more likely to develop substance abuse, antisocial problems; women more likely to develop anxiety, depression"  http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/mental-illness.aspx

Introduction

This is my first blog for my EN 110 Good Books class for the summer of 2013. I am hoping it will be a great place for me to talk about books/literature, about the humanities, and about my class.

I am a Professor of English and Director of the English Education program at Northern Michigan University.
You can find out more about me by going here: http://www.nmu.edu/english/node/49

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