The Undermining Of Mental Health In Harvey By Elwood P. Dowd

In Harvey it is made clear from the first few minutes of the movie who is suffering from a mental illness, Elwood P. Dowd. Elwood spends most of his days at the bars in town with his close friend, Harvey. Harvey is a roughly six foot tall white rabbit who Elwood refers to as a pooka which explains why only Elwood can see him, normally. Elwood is very kind to everyone he meets and never causes any harm, but that does not keep his older sister, Veta Louise Dowd Simmons, from trying to lock him up in a sanitarium. Through the entirety of Harvey, most time is spent trying to get Elwood back to the sanitarium so that he can be properly treated for his mental illness that allows him to see Harvey. Along the way, many ideas and elements go into the undermining of mental health in Harvey. More specifically, many people undermine Elwood’s illness but also the severity of his illness throughout the entirety of the movie. Characters throughout the film have the most impact on the undermining of mental illness, including the people of the town, the bartender, Veta Louise, the doctors at the sanitarium, and Elwood P. Dowd himself. Undermining the extent of Elwood’s mental illness begins with the friendly bartender at his favorite

The bartender, Dr. Sanderson, Nurse Kelly, and Elwood all undermined the severity of his illness by letting his kindness overpower the extent of his illness. Veta Louise, Myrtle Mae, the women of Veta’s party, and others throughout the town undermined Elwood’s mental illness since it was abnormal and not acceptable to them and their privileged lives. Elwood’s mental illness was undermined in different forms but was nonetheless not handled in the proper way. Other influences clouded people’s judgement and choices when it came to Elwood’s illness. Whether it was because of selfishness, disgust, or naivety, the characters in Harvey undermined Elwood P. Dowd’s mental illness and