Roxanne Gay Hunger Term Papers

Allison Pacocha

Professor Eggert

ENG 125

6 April 2022

Option 2 Mental health and illnesses are not specifically targeted. They can happen to anyone. Roxanne Gay’s memoir, Hunger, shows that because of a trauma that occurred in her early life, she struggles with finding herself. Society’s responses to her lifestyle and body bring her down rather than helping her find a solution. In Bitter Medicine, Clem Martini, and his brother Olivier Martini’s memoir demonstrated that mental health could happen to any ordinary person. However, how society responds to those who struggle with a mental disorder is dehumanizing. From treating them as if they were criminals to not disclosing the dangers of medicines, society acts as if the mentally ills’

In chapter five, Gay mentions that she was raped at an early age which led to her gaining weight in order to protect herself. By mentioning her trauma, she acknowledged that her physical weight is mentally rooted rather than a choice people think she had. Unfortunately, society does not react to the mental illnesses behind those who struggle with obesity. Society expects that you fit within a specific size range for clothing, airplane seats, restaurant seating, etc. (Gay). In current media, the overweight person is seen as comedic relief or villainized. Rather than helping people understand why mentally they have a mental illness, television shows are created that require them to lose weight which will be gained back once they leave due to the fact that they have not resolved their mental

While in the psychiatric ward, Ben received medicine that brought him back to reality. However, throughout their time in the psychiatric ward, the Martini family was unaware of the suicide rate that accompanies schizophrenia (Martini 47). Because the medicine brings a patient in reality, the patient remembers the issues and struggles they have to face on a daily basis. That reality can be difficult to cope with which tends to lead a patient to suicide. Including the “Bitter” part of the title, it can be both the physical taste of the medicine or the lack of knowledge that the family received while in the psychiatric ward. Gay’s title, Hunger, also implies various meanings. Because she does not eat, she is hungry. Because she lacks her former self, she is hungry. Because she lacks comfort and security, she is hungry (Gay). When she was younger, she felt as if she had to change her appearance in a response to her trauma. Those who are hungry may have underlying traumas that have affected their mental health. Therefore, society’s response to overweight individuals should not be to shame them for what they can’t control, but rather help them receive any help mentally they might