Quotations/ Literary Terms

"It was my misfortune- or salvation- to be at all times perfectly conscious of my misperceptions of reality. I never 'believed' anything I saw or thought I saw. Not only that, I correctly understood each new weird activity." (Kaysen 41)
This quote is especially important to the reader because it lets them know the extent of Susanna's "insanity". Susanna never really thinks she is insane because she realizes what is real and what is not; insanity is not knowing what is real and what is not.

"My loneliness and boredom and fear were all weapons aimed at my enemy, the world." (42)
This quotes explains the tormenting Susanna endured during her times of depression.

"The floor of the ice cream parlor bothered me...the contrast got under my skin. I always felt itchy in the ice cream parlor. The floor meant Yes, No, This, That, Up, Down, Day, Night- all the indecisions and opposites that were bad enough in my life without having them spelled out for you on the floor"
This quote gives the reader a chance to understand Susanna's thinking and how her mind works.

Similie: "There were no objective criteria for deciding to put someone into seclusion. It was relative, like the grading curve in high school." (47)

Allusions: "The hospital was on a hill outside of town, the way hospitals are in movies about the insane" (48)
"Ray Charles was the most famous ex-patient" (48)
"Syliva Plath had come and gone." (48)

Metaphor: "The group had an atomic structure: a nucleus of nuts surrounded by darting, nervous nurse-electrons charged with our protection." (48-49)
"...it was our lullaby. It was our metronome, our pulse." (55)

Imagery: "all soft winds and delicate smells of warm earth" (52)
"Down the hill, past the magnolia already losing its fleshy blossoms, the pink turning brown and rotten along the edge; past the paper-dry daffodils; past the sticky laurel that could crown you or poison you."

Autobiographical Novel: This written in first person by Susanna Kaysen describing her life altering experience inside of a mental hospital.

Onomatopoeia: "'Rnnn," said Lisa."(27)

Motif: Susanna continuously revisits the fact that she has borderline personality disorder. She can't understand how the doctor could have come up with that diagnosis in such a short time. She wants to know what her disorder means, how she may have got it, what the causes are, etc.