A hidden madness would appear to refer to either the bodily type of the disease or the mark of madness in one’s actions springing from, or imparted through the mind. The theme of madness in literature can refer to both writers who have endured a certain mental illness and are known to be insane, or it can merely refer to the abnormal characters in literature. The Canadian postmodernist writer Timothy Findley examines madness by studying the history of madness and the development of psychotherapy. Typically, those marked as ‘mad’ in Timothy Findley’s novels are often individuals who perceive aspects of the world truthfully and rebel against or defy civilization on behalf of the natural world. In Timothy Findley’s novel ‘Pilgrim’ and his two short stories ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Out of the Silence,’ the theme of madness is illustrated similarly through self destruction, the power of silence, and one’s desire to escape.
The theme of madness is demonstrated through the self destructive behavior of many of Timothy Findley’s main characters in his short stories. In ‘Lemonade’ the mother, Renalda Dewey, lives a life apart from her child and becomes fixated on alcoholism due to mental illness and the loss of her husband in war. Harper, Renalda’s son, cannot understand his mothers illness and self abusive behavior, causing her non-existent presence throughout most of his life. Renalda remains oblivious to the fact that she is the cause of her own demise and that the alcohol she consumes is merely a way of coping with the loss of her husband, “She saw the mess of power and blood on the rug, a furious kaleidoscope of colour that was perhaps the drapery, perhaps an overturned vase of flowers, perhaps only the vaguery of madness, and then she saw h...
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... given little to no freedom, similar to prisoners confined in jail cells. Overall, the theme of madness is portrayed through Pilgrim’s desire to escape, similar to Renalda’s predicament as she longs to escape life and the roles she plays in society.
In conclusion, Timothy Findley displays the theme of madness through written pieces such as ‘Pilgrim,’ Lemonade,’ and ‘Out of the Silence.’ This theme is illustrated through self destruction, the power silence, and one’s desire to escape. Although each piece uniquely written, Timothy Findley generates the theme of madness in many of his novels and short stories and outlines many experiences and practices which have been perceived as ‘madness’. Although ‘madmen’ can be determined as individuals who are of difference to the normal way of functioning, almost all members of a society can be seen as ‘mad’ from time to time.
Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”
According to the Indian Times, madness is the rule in warfare (Hebert). The madness causes a person to struggle with experiences while in the war. In “How to Tell a True War Story”, the madness of the war caused the soldiers to react to certain situations within the environment differently. Tim O’Brien’s goal with the story “How to Tell a True War Story” is to shed light on the madness the soldiers face while in the war. Tim O’Brien tells the true story of Rat experiences of the war changing his life.
“When Dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off…” (Walls 115).In Jeannette Walls memoir, The Glass Castle, Walls enlightens the reader on what it’s like to grow up with a parent who is dependent on alcohol, Rex Walls, Jeannette’s father, was an alcoholic. Psychologically, having a parent who abuses alcohol is the worst thing for a child. The psychological state of these children can get of poorer quality as they grow up. Leaving the child with psychiatric disorders in the future and or being an alcoholic as well.
Drugs is one of the themes in this story that shows the impact of both the user and their loved ones. There is no doubt that heroin destroys lives and families, but it offers a momentary escape from the characters ' oppressive environment and serves as a coping mechanism to help deal with the human suffering that is all around him. Suffering is seen as a contributing factor of his drug addiction and the suffering is linked to the narrator’s daughter loss of Grace. The story opens with the narrator feeling ice in his veins when he read about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. The two brothers are able to patch things up and knowing that his younger brother has an addiction. He still buys him an alcoholic drink at the end of the story because, he has accepted his brother for who he really is.
Insanity is a blurred line in the eyes of Ken Kesey. He reveals a hidden microcosm of mental illness, debauchery, and tyranny in his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The remarkable account of a con man’s ill-fated journey inside a psychiatric hospital exposes the horrors of troubling malpractices and mistreatments. Through a sane man’s time within a crazy man’s definition of a madhouse, there is exploration and insight for the consequences of submission and aberration from societal norm. While some of the novel’s concerns are now anachronous, some are more vital today than before. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a compelling tale that brings a warning of the results of an overly conformist and repressive institution.
Cleckley, Hervey M. Introduction. The Mask of Sanity. New York: New American Library, 1982. N. pag. Web.
Edgar Allen Poe shows what really happens when someone experiences anxiety and terror that drives his or her mentally ill when given the obstacles inside his mind. The obstacles described inside Tell-Tale Heart bring the narrator to an ironic end. These hindrances slowly build up to a chilling end for the narrator. This end is drawn out with the beating of a heart that doesn’t go away and reminds the narrator that the old man is still haunting him. The narrator has an idea in his head that he is not crazy and in fact is too calm to be mad and has an ironic story behind it.
...kness” hallucinations of madness. While the setting emphasizes searching for freedom despite the forms of confinement throughout the bittersweet stories, lets us view each characters life as it portrays the author’s time in which they lived, showing us there setting of life. Despite each characters will power giving them a hope of being liberated, somewhere along the lines of the story, we can conclude that freedom is just another metaphor of false hope.
In Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author refers to the many struggles people individually face in life. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the novel explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity. With these themes, Kesey makes various points which help us understand which situations of repression can lead an individual to insanity. These points include: the effects of sexual repression, woman as castrators, and the pressures we face from society to conform. Through these points, Kesey encourages the reader to consider that people react differently in the face of repression, and makes the reader realize the value of alternative states of perception, rather than simply writing them off as "crazy."
Take for example, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. There is no doubt in my mind that the mental institution that comprises the primary setting of the narrative is intended as a metaphor of societal oppression. This symbolic novel relays the story of an inmate standing up against the powerful forces that operate a psychiatric hospital, but it represents much more than just a classic case of “man versus the establishment”. The questions raised by Kesey are almost as chilling as his descriptive tales of inmate abuse. Kesey compelled me to ponder just how thin the line is that separates insanity from sanity, and treatment from control. Representing a heroic struggle of personality against an institution of mindless conformity, I found “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” to be one powerful piece of literature.
Through the use of insanity as a metaphor, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, William Blake, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, introduced us to characters and stories that illustrate the path to insanity from the creation of a weakened psychological state that renders the victim susceptible to bouts of madness, the internalization of stimuli that has permeated the human psyche resulting in the chasm between rational and irrational thought, and the consequences of the effects of the psychological stress of external stimuli demonstrated through the actions of their characters.
To the uninitiated, the writing of Flannery O'Connor can seem at once cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent. Her short stories routinely end in horrendous, freak fatalities or, at the very least, a character's emotional devastation. Working his way through "Greenleaf," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," or "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the new reader feels an existential hollowness reminiscent of Camus' The Stranger; O'Connor's imagination appears a barren, godless plane of meaninglessness, punctuated by pockets of random, mindless cruelty.
H.P. Lovecraft’s fascination in supernatural theories plays into a main basis for his novels. (Wohleber) With the unknown lurking, Lovecraft incorporates horror through the use of psychological fear as a form of expression making it become crucial for many of his works. At the Mountains of Madness encompasses this thought by the expeditions before and after effects on the characters. The urge to be a success fills the scientists up with courage to embark on such a dangerous trip; however, after the trip the survivors, Danforth and Dyer, had lost all sense of sanity. “On our return Danforth was close to hysterics..promise to say shew our sketches or say anything.” (Lovecraft 176.) Their eyes couldn’t believe what was seen having them debate whether it was hallucinations or real. Ultimately this made them reach a decision where the world will not have to question their authority, for they will both keep their mouth shut. This novel expresses a psychological factor through the use of scientific theories showing the horror that lies beneath them.
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman it takes place in the 19th century where dealing with mental disorders was as similar as dealing with any physical disorder. Paranoia was a very common mental disorder back in the 19th century. In fact, “Under the unerring scrutiny of the two bulbous eyes in the yellow wallpaper, the narrator passes through stages from concern to paranoia and, finally, to madness” (Bak P5). This quote shows her development in to madness by the creative description the narrator gave about the yellow wallpaper. The relationship between creativity and madness are closely tie together because the narrator only thinks about the yellow wallpaper, with what it signifies, which drives her to complete madness.
In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, Charlotte Gilman 's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Ken Kesey 's One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, the poor treatment of primary characters labeled insane by secondary characters results in the deterioration of the primary characters mental state. All three of these works take place in a time where mental instability is frowned upon. The way in which society views those with mental instabilities influences the view and treatment of the mentally unstable by the people around them.