Suicide In The Odyssey Essay

Nora’s Odyssey: A Journey Through Mental Health and Suicide In the novel The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, the most significant issue presented throughout the text is suicide. Early in the story, we learn that the protagonist, Nora Seed, grapples with depression and anxiety. These struggles continue to build, and Nora finally cracks under the pressure of her poor mental health and decides to take her life. The rest of the novel bases itself upon Nora’s decision to die and her journey to a new beginning. Nora battles with regret, loneliness, and a general lack of self-worth, which ultimately leads to her death. All these emotions present themselves as other relevant issues in the novel that warrant further exploration. We chose the topic of

In the letter, it is written, “Dear whoever, I had all the chances to make something of my life, and I blew every one of them. Through my own carelessness and misfortune, the world has retreated from me, and so now it makes perfect sense that I should retreat from the world” (Haig 23). Nora's letter reveals deep regret and self-blame, as she sees herself as a failure who the world has abandoned. Her belief that she should “retreat from the world” underscores the distorted thinking often associated with suicidal ideation, emphasizing the novel's exploration of mental health struggles and what they lead to. Nora’s helplessness makes itself apparent when Haig writes, “Her despair grows like a weight she couldn’t carry” (Haig 13). Nora has reached her breaking point and can’t continue the mental battle she has been fighting for such a long time, proving the root cause of her suicide is her mental health. Depression, as revealed by research, stands as the most predominant factor in the realm of suicide. Brdvik unwraps the correlation between suicide, suicidal ideation, and various mental disorders, stating, “Depression is [...] known to be the most common disorder among people who die by suicide”