Response # Element(s) Quoted Passage Response to the Text

#1-Diction-Characterization

After a violent altercation with her husband, Marlena confides in Jacob: “She talks of the pain, grief, and horror of the past four years; of learning to cope with being the wife of a man so violent and unpredictable his touch made her skin crawl...” (272).

Mental illness is a disease so vicious and unforgiving, that just destroying the life of its immediate victim is never enough. Consequently, it uses its sufferer as a sort of orifice, a vessel through which it can further infest the lives of all who its victim comes into contact with. In this way, its terror is not wasted. Instead, it is continuously spread, constantly tormenting whoever is so unlucky to stand in its path. Mental illness mercilessly rots away at the mind, the body, and the soul, leaving the inflicted desperately yearning for answers when none exist.

#2-Diction-Internal Conflict

While trying to justify his aggressive actions, August tells Jacob, “But it wasn't long before the old familiar discontent started creeping up on me. I suppose it was always there, somewhere in the background. All I've done, my whole life, is keep it temporarily at bay” (265).

August has never fully accepted his illness. He has never really understod how horribly it could change his life, and put him and his wife directly in the line of fire. August had never become physically violent towards Marlena before, and so this new territory that comes as a package deal with his disturbia, is a complete and utter shock to his system. Sure, he had ranted and yelled and said a thousand things he had eventually come to regret, but he had never so completely lost control. And although he acknowledges the fact that he has stepped so out of line, he still does not understand that his unpredictable temper will inevitably strike again, and that his troubled psyche is not something he can just forgive and forget.

#3-Diction-Figurative Lang.

As Marlena explains her complex relationship with August, she shares with Jacob her thoughts on what caused her husband's most recent outburst: “It's been there a while, biding its time and growing closer with each revolution” (273).

Mental illness can bring out the worst in the best of people. It nurtures its victim's inner demons, turning them loose when we least expect it. It is an expert at ruining relationships and destroying families, pushing everyone away just when companionship is needed

Response # Element(s) Quoted Passage Response to the Text

#3the most. It changes people, making them vacous and unstable, absolute nuisances to be around. It alters the mindset, promoting self-destruction and desolation instead of happiness and hope. Worst of all, it harms its sufferers in the most terrible of ways—forcing them to begin to doubt the meaning of life and how to live it.

#4-Tone-Characterization

When they run into each other on the circus grounds a couple of days after their altercation, August tells Jacob, “Look here, I was hoping we could let bygones be bygones. So what do you say, my boy—friends again?” (267).

August's complete and utter unawareness of the extreme severity of his condition makes its effects just that much stronger. By being under the impression that his violent outbursts will be continuously tolerated, August is unknowingly cultivating his disturbia and allowing it to grow increasingly stronger. If his absolute disregard for his actions is allowed to go on, August's disturbia will overtake him, ultimately coming to control not only his mind, but also his life.

#5-Tone While talking to Jacob about

August, Uncle Al divulges, “'He's paragon schnitzophonic.' 'You mean paranoid schizophrenic?' 'Sure. Whatever'” (266).

Uncle Al's continual blatant disregard for August's critical condition shows how this complete lack of mindfulness can only exacerbate such an illness. By standing by and allowing such devastating secrets to be tucked under the rug and hidden away, those who think they are helping the disturbed are actually making matters much worse.When the mentally ill are never confronted about their destructive behavior, how can they ever be expected to change?

#6-Diction While spilling her heart out to

Jacob, Marlena says of her husband, “'When he's happy, he's the most charming creature on earth. You'd never know...but when something sets him off...'” (270).

Mental illness is a disease that doesn't give itself away. It hides itself so carefully behind a facade of normality, that it's virtually impossible to pick it out from the crowd. Mental illness is so scary, because we'll never really understand it. It forces it's victim to

Response # Element(s) Quoted Passage Response to the Text

#6wear a mask, as transparent and fragile as tissue paper, threatening to tear at the most unsuspecting of moments. The disease challenges everything we know about who we are, daring humankind to hunt for the answers to what makes us and what breaks us.

#7-Imagery During August's absurd outburst,

Jacob describes the results of his reaction: “His face is purple. His eyes bulge. He trembles with rage” (244).

No longer feeling in control of his own mind, August has begun the downward spiral of succumbing to his disturbia. His thoughts have become senseless and random, straddling the thin line between inanity and insanity. Like many battling mental illness, August has lost his peace of mind. A loss so profound that his imagination has taken hold of his reality. His disease has caused him to doubt not only his purpose in this world, but also his significance as a human being. Mental illness inflicts upon its victim a loss of identity so pronounced, that the sufferer no longer knows what to make of himself. The inability to be able to control the most essential factor of what makes us human—our minds—is one of the most physically and emotionally debilitating weaknesses we can fall susceptible to.

#8-Diction-Imagery-Simile

Jacob describes August's “training routine” with the circus' elephant: “...August is already hammering Rosie. She bellows and screams, throwing her head and backing away, but he's like a machine” (288).

With his own pain so terribly overwhelming, August is unable to empathize with those around him. Although he recognizes the hurt his condition has caused his loved ones, he is unable to understand their pain, completely focused on his own depression. His disturbia has taken over his life so wholly, that no longer can anything stand in the way of his destructive behavior. For those inflicted with any kind of mental illness, the pain and suffering may become too much for

Response # Element(s) Quoted Passage Response to the Text

#8them to handle, pushing them over their boundries and into the throngs of nothingness.

#9-Diction-Figurative Lang.

During her heart-to-heart with Jacob, Marlena says of her life with August, “'I never know what I'm going to wake up to'” (270).

A life filled with letdowns and disappointments has left Marlena with a very thin skin. Her already extremely sensitive nature has been tattered time and time again because of her husband's insanity, leaving her irrevocably torn and broken. Mental illness does not only destroy the life of its primary victim—it also affects the lives of all those who come into contact with him. In fact, these bystanders can actually receive the worst of it, since their knowledge and awareness of what is truly happening can leave them even more vulnerable to such attacks.

#10-Tone-Imagery

When August futily asks Marlena to take him back, he begs her: “'My darling—my sweet—please come inside with me. We'll talk about it. We'll work it out...Marlena! You can't do this! This is not the end! Do you hear me?'” (262).

Mental illness is an isolator. It secludes it’s victim, keeping him away from any and all hope or happiness that may come his way. It morphs its victim’s once optimistic frame of mind into one of hatred and sorrow, pushing him away from the ones he needs to be closest to. For August, his battle with his mind is keeping him from being able to have the strong relationship he so desperately needs with his wife. Instead, his constant mood swings cause him to second-guess his very own emotions, making him unsure of what he really wants for himself, his family, and ultimately, from life.