A wise man once told me that those who don’t read fiction, don’t understand reality. The statement initially seemed a bit preposterous to me, until I came across this young adult novel Turtles All The Way Down by the best-selling author, John Green.
The book deals with the portrayal of mental health in the most accurate way possible, showcasing a young girl’s struggle dealing with episodes of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Unlike the usual depiction of mental health issues in pop culture where falling in love acts as the ultimate healing factor for the psychiatric patient; this particular story completely stands out.
The book revolves around 16-year-old Aza Holmes and her search for a fugitive billionaire who is also the father of her love interest. The story has various aspects involving several quotes, defining love, the pain of detachment from departed loved ones, amateur astronomy and even the usual themes of teenage friendship.
However, the mystery of the billionaire and all the other aspects are overshadowed by the vivid description of Aza’s struggle with O.C.D, making it the main plot of the book and rendering all the other content as mere subplots.
Anyone who has ever gone through phases of anxiety can deeply resonate with Aza and her suffering. The elaborated description of what Aza is going through does tend to make the readers uncomfortable in the course of empathising with her.
But at the same time, it provides a sense of solace to the readers who actually suffer from such an illness; thereby inculcating in them a sense of hope by making them feel validated and represented.
A very good article on why people should stop using OCD as a ‘cool adjective’: https://t.co/rAGtAazQpj
— Orchard OCD (@OrchardOCD) August 2, 2019
The author has very efficiently used the literary device of symbolism, by keeping the title “turtles all the way down”. It is in reference to a story about a lady telling a scientist that the earth is actually flat and is resting upon the back of a turtle which is further resting on the back of another turtle and so on.
It has been mentioned in the book as a means of suggesting to look at the big picture and has been a recurring theme for various other subplots of the novel.
Aza, in the course of her fight with O.C.D, continuously struggles in acknowledging the fact that she’s an individual herself and not just a set of individual microbes that live inside her body. Very often she can be seen lost in her thought spirals.
Eventually, she goes through a spiritual kind of awakening based on a series of incidents that make her realise that life is meant to be looked upon as a whole entity and not just a set of events.
John Green has been vocal about his struggle with O.C.D in the media, which explains the well-written protagonist and the accurate depiction of the issue. He attempts to break the stigma around mental illness in society by bringing the readers really close to understanding and acknowledging the ordeal experienced by someone dealing with a mental health problem.
A certain section of the book in its latter chapters showcases a rift between Aza and her best friend Daisy where Aza receives a lot of criticism from her. She is told that she is self-centred and is responsible for creating a negative atmosphere. What Daisy fails to acknowledge while describing Aza as terribly annoying is that Aza does not possess the same amount of mental freedom as she does.
While this does seem like a horrible thing to do to your best friend who is mentally going through a war with her own thoughts; in the broad and objective sense, it is a very accurate description of the nuance that exists between the conflicting mindsets of people going through a mental health crisis and their loved ones who despite wanting the best for them have to bear with the cold behaviour they showcase.
This single episode of the book greatly justifies the sense of realism that comes along in Aza’s story, making the readers feel that it has been really thoughtfully written, and almost as if John Green is asserting his personal experiences in his writing.
The impact left by the book on the readers is a perfect example of the theory of intersubjectivity, which refers to the sharing of thought between two minds. The two minds being that of the reader and Aza’s in this case.
John Green communicates to the readers about the mental health problem in such detail, putting the readers in the same emotional state as the protagonist, thereby making the readers mirror in their heads the same struggles that the protagonist is facing.
In recent times, and in a country like India where the road towards mental health awareness is a long one, such accurate depictions of the issue in any art form, be it through literature or through movies, are extremely valuable and ought to be publicised.