"I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"

Paper Summary:

Joanne Greenberg's narrative "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" details the internal and external struggles that surround schizophrenia through the main character in the story, Deborah Blau, a teenager who experiences a psychotic break. The author of the paper states that Greenberg explores the multifaceted etiology of the disease, showing not necessarily that schizophrenia is caused by childhood trauma but that childhood trauma can exacerbate a pre-existing condition or innate tendency. Furthermore, the paper's writer contends that Greenberg shows that schizophrenia does not occur in a vacuum but rather it develops as part of the matrix of a person's life and affects family members intensely.

From the Paper:

"Blau flees to Yr often throughout the course of the narrative. Her therapist, Dr. Fried, tries to bring Deborah back to reality. Dr. Fried is a gentle, kind, understanding therapist who eventually breaks through to the troubled teen. However, Deborah does not break with Yr easily. She clings to her alternative world because it seems a far safer and more comfortable place than the harsh reality she knows. Deborah also forms much of her adolescent identity while on the psych ward and comes to accept the fact that she is abnormal, even "crazy." Deborah learns from her fellow inmates on the ward and reacts to their vicissitudes as if they were her own. Basically she internalizes and analyzes everything in a warped way. The author presents the psychosis of schizophrenia not from a clinical perspective but from a subjective one."

More papers on "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden":

• Analytical Essay # 38498 : " "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"
• Analytical Essay # 35248 : "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"
• Essay # 33070 : "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: