Um, isolation is no fun, folks. We use it to punish kids as well as prisoners in, you know, prison, because it's scary. It makes you feel cut off from the world and utterly alone.
In I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Deborah slips into the imaginary world of Yr and becomes isolated from her family, schoolmates, and everyone else around her. The resulting feeling of detachment is often devastating: when you live in isolation, you don't have people to talk to, freely bounce ideas off of, nurture you, and love you.
Deborah learned this pattern of detachment partly from her parents, and partly as a defense mechanism against feeling further pain and disappointment. Now it's up to her to get past it—for the sake of her sanity.
Questions About Isolation
- How does the iron portcullis represent isolation?
- In what ways does Yr both isolate and comfort Deborah? Can you understand her need for Yr? Why or why not?
- What inciting incidents led Deborah to feel isolated?
- How do different staff members treat the patients differently? How does this treatment help or worsen the patients' feelings of isolation?
Chew on This
The stigma surrounding mental illnesses has an isolating effect on people who suffer from them.
Whether we are mentally stable or not, all of us experience emotional distance at times that can make us feel the pain of isolation.