Chances are you've spent a lot of time thinking about who you are. Deborah in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden sure has—although her conclusion is pretty much that she's evil. As a result, her search for a self that works for her is often tied to Yr.
Deborah wants to have privacy; she wants to escape a world that is sometimes boring, sometimes scary; she wants to have a special places where she can be in control and reinvent herself. Hey, that sounds kind of good—but, as Deborah finds, not when it gets to the point of actually living in that imaginary world.
Questions About Identity
- How does being Jewish impact Deborah's sense of who she is? How does it affect her mother? Her grandfather?
- How does Deborah use Yr to improve her self-esteem?
- How do Deborah's experiences at camp shape her sense of self?
- Does mental illness become an actual part of Deborah's identity?
Chew on This
Cultural ideas about race, religion, and gender help shape our sense of identity.
Mental illness is sometimes the result of internalizing the negative messages we receive about who we are from outside sources like our families, our schools, and our culture at large.