Girl Interrupted

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature grade: 13 (A) Technical University of Braunschweig (English Seminar) course: HS Film and Literature language: English abstract: You spent nearly two years in a loony bin! Why in the world were you there? I can't believe it!' Translation: If you're crazy then I'm crazy and I'm not so the whole thing must have been a mistake (125). How do we know whether someone is insane or sane? Susanna Kaysen's account Girl Interrupted is told to us through the eyes of a girl who is diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder- can we believe the things she is telling us or are her memories distorted by her mental illness?The unreliability of the first-person-narrator is not only a question when dealing with the book but it is also an interesting aspect to consider when taking a closer look at the cinematic version of Girl Interrupted. In order to analyze how Kaysen's literary work was adapted I will first shortly introduce the book and the movie. Then I will compare the two works with regard to narrative perspective plot and time frame characters and cultural background.