Key Facts
full title · Girl, Interrupted
author · Susanna Kaysen
type of work · Memoir
genre · Memoir; autobiography
language · English
time and place written · Early 1990s;
Cambridge, Massachusetts
date of first publication · 1993
publisher · Turtle Bay Books
narrator · Susanna Kaysen constructs an account of her time at
McLean Hospital from memory and hospital documentation, commenting
on the cultural context and of her experiences and the people who
shaped them. Although the work is autobiographical, Kaysen does
not write on a strictly linear timeline; she merges events and people
for dramatic effect and to protect identities.
point of view · First person
tone · Reflective; philosophical; darkly humorous; critical
tense · Past
setting (time) · 1967–1969
setting (place) · McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
protagonist · Susanna Kaysen
major conflict · Sent to a residential psychiatric program in the wake
of a suicide attempt, Kaysen struggles to heal in the face of mental
illness, the oppression of confinement, and the uncertainty of a
changing world.
themes · Confusion of social nonconformity with insanity; freedom
vs. captivity; limited choices available to women
motifs · Time; detachment; generation gap
symbols · Hospital records; tunnels
