Girl Interrupted: Rhetorical Analysis

When I think about rhetorical analysis, an abundant amount of critical information comes to my mind.  Things such as tone, mood, rhetorical strategies, as well as what the author (or in this case, director) is trying to get across. 

In the 1999 drama, Girl Interupted, Wynona Rider (Susanna Kaysen) takes the stage portraying an eighteen year old woman who is admitted to a mental hospital for chasing vodka with a bottle of aspirin. The doctor states that Kaysen has a borderline personality disorder, and her stay extends for about a year. She comes to find the real and distinct line between sanity and mentally instable. 

In this movie, rhetorical analysis exists in quite a few scenes. While watching, thoughts and undiscovered questions came to my mind, for instance, "who is the intended audience?, what type of tone is this?, what is the reason for writing this book, and making this movie?, what is the content of the message, and how is it conveyed?".  In my opinion, Girl Interrupted was initially written by somebody who was once in the protagonist shoes', hence the distinct relation of their name, Susanna Kaysen. 

In all realness, Girl Interrupted demonstrates a list of rhetorical strategies in order to make the analysis a whole. Characterization and the relationships between Susanna and the other woman in the psych ward in the late 1960s create unconditional passion and understanding for one another. Contributing to making the analysis a whole, I took a look at the themes and how they coincide with each other. Captivity, Searching for human dignity, and Freedom all have correlation with the other. In order to find human dignity, Susanna embarks on a voyage to find herself by means of investigating her own trials and tribulations and her roomates, soon to be her friends. The captivity is demonstrated clearly in the beginning, where Susanna signs herself into Claymoore Institution, only to find that the doctors are the only ones who can release her. The captivity forces her freedom being stripped, thus the rhetorical strategies coinciding.