Deborah Blau Theme

A common trend in literature is characters changing over time as a repercussion of outside forces acting upon them. In 1964 Joanne Greenberg wrote an autobiographical fiction novel titled, “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”, the main character Deborah Blau, is affected by many outside forces causing her to change completely throughout the book. The forces in which change Deborah are her childhood, a serious mental illness, and the supportive people in her life. Deborah has experienced many things no one should ever have to experience in her life. In chapter seven page 51, Joanne Greenberg wrote, “At one time-strange to think of it now- the gods of Yr had been companions- secret, princely shares of her loneliness. In Camp, where she had been hated; in school, we're strangeness set her apart more and more as the years went on, Yr had a grown wider and wider for her as the solitude deepened.” This quote is used to give you an idea of the pain and loneliness Deborah felt as a child. Deborahs childhood was anything but happy, she used the Kingdom of Yr to escape from reality. Yr grew in unison with Deborah's pain and loneliness. Deborah is already beginning to be a

In chapter 12 of “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” the author puts the pieces together that help us understand where Deborah’s schizophrenia rooted from. Deborah’s schizophrenia is tied to her childhood loneliness. She was excluded from everything practically, and never fit in with the other kids. Deborah’s family loved her for being so different, but they did not realize that those special things were the reasons she was alienated, excluded from other children and their activities. Also, when Deborah was young her parents sent her away after her mother, Esther, had a miscarriage. When Deborah was sent away she always felt even more alone, and as if she was the