Kaysen argues that to commit suicide, one must practice detachment as a means of tricking the mind into destroying itself. Without the “proper distance,” she argues, the act is too heinous to be undertaken. Detachment is a familiar device for KayseKaysen argues that to commit suicide, one must practice detachment as a means of tricking the mind into destroying itself. Without the “proper distance,” she argues, the act is too heinous to be undertaken. Detachment is a familiar device for Kaysen and her fellow patients, a kind of armor they don to remove themselves from the reality of their sad plights. Even the constant assault of repetitive thought, a hallmark of mental illness in Kaysen’s conception, becomes “background music, a Muzak medley of self-hatred themes.” Detachment is most alarming when it reveals a person’s total inability to feel pain or pleasure. When Kaysen accidentally pours molten sugar on Georgina’s hand, Georgina has no reaction at all. Even searing pain can’t penetrate the shell of detachment Georgina has constructed to protect herself.

Generation Gap

Kaysen’s adolescence coincides with the rise of late 1960s youth culture. Millions of baby boomers (i.e., children born at the end of the Second World War) came of age as teenagers and young adults. Older generations were startled by the

Generation Gap

Kaysen’s adolescence coincides with the rise of late 1960s youth culture. Millions of baby boomers (i.e., children born at the end of the Second World War) came of age as teenagers and young adults. Older