Focus on the Right Bright Place -- ATBP -- Lindsey Dawkins

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All The Bright Places is the type of book that made me fall in love with literature as an adolescent. Dynamic, Byronic Heroes like Finch, and slightly tragic, complicated female leads like Violet make for a powerful read. The characters in this book are what make the book compelling. The other themes of mental health, distant parents, romance, and friendship in adolescence are also important, but it is the intrinsic development of the characters that hook the reader, and push the reader to hang on throughout the rollercoaster of events in the novel. Although I do believe compelling characters are a staple of adolescent literature, All The Bright Places does it quite well. Finch’s voice is crystal clear, although his clinical Bipolar disorder inherently blurs and confuses his emotions and perceptions of events. The beginning of the novel starts on Day 6, and the opening chapter is entitled “I am awake again”. It is heartbreaking to know that Finch does not have a name to apply to his periods of “awake” and “asleep.” He doesn’t have any resources to help him name his periods, either. His counselor, Mr. Embry, goes through the motions of checking on Finch, but doesn’t follow up thoroughly. However, Finch doesn’t make it easy. His demeanor isn’t the typical suicidal demeanor. His tone is almost flippant at times. For example, when Mr. Embry asks Finch if he was planning to jump off the ledge, Finch replies “Not on pizza day .Never on pizza day, which is one of the better days of the week” (13). Of course, as the novel progresses, the reader realizes that Finch isn’t flippant at all. I question though, how successful novels like these are in raising awareness of suicide and mental health. This is one of the first books I’ve read as an adult where I have been constantly aware of my different perspective. As a teenager, I know that I would have found the idea of Finch struggling with a mental illness as romantic. I would have seen him as the typical, compelling, Byronic Hero and nothing more. I would have been terribly sad at the ending of the novel, but I know that I would not have gone further in thinking about the purpose of Finch struggling with a mental illness. I believe it’s the same argument that some have had over the 13 Reasons Why Netflix series. Without an open dialogue between adolescent and adult, or a guided dialogue between adolescent and adolescent, I think the theme of recognizing mental illness is lost. It’s not a subtle theme in this book, nor is it in 13 Reasons Why. However, there has to be some sort of discussion, because the sub-plots in the novel can take over the message of mental health awareness. Because of the nature of the novel and it’s themes, I think this would be an awesome choice for a literature circle in 11th or 12th grade.

Comments

  1. Taylor SimmonsOctober 25, 2017 at 7:14 PM

    Lindsey,

    I really enjoyed your blog post, this makes me want to read ATBP even more. I totally agree with you about the mental health aspect that you mentioned. Being young adults, mental health is aa big deal that is so often swept under the rug, which is not good. I feel as though as young adults, we need the most help with managing our mental health, because we are already going through so much trying to get through life and transition into adults in the real world and it's hard. I think mental health needs to be talked about so much more than it already is, especially in schools.

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  2. Victoria VanceOctober 28, 2017 at 10:25 AM

    Lindsey,

    I read this book my first year in high school and again later in college and I definitely agree that as you grow your perspective of the book changes immensely! It goes from the hopeless romantic narrative to recognition of mental health and its impact on the individual. I agree though, that if this book was introduced to an adolescent group that the mental health themes of the book would get lost in the romance. So, it's a double edged sword. Yes, it introduces the mental health narrative, but will the students care or pick up on it is an entire other obstacle of its own. Or would they just be enthralled in the romantic narrative and the tragic love story? Its interesting to think about, and it would be a great book to introduce in the class room, but the emphasis of certain things would be sort of difficult to pinpoint for some groups.

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