Adolescent Writings

The thesis of the paper is that the literary output in adolescence may have specific roots and functions which make it different from productions at different periods of life. Therefore, this output may serve as a potential help to self-awareness in therapy.

To illustrate my thesis I present Mary, a 26-year-old woman. When I first saw her, I had an impression of an almost ghostlike, elusive person. Her great thinness made her large eyes appear even larger, and her good head of hair quite luxurious. She had a pretty face and a graceful figure, yet she somehow succeeded in making those natural assets so inconspicuous that it was an effort to classify her as even good-looking. She stooped, walked sideways, and was dressed quite drably. When she spoke, it was in a barely audible voice, more like a whisper. It was difficult to follow her, because there hardly was a statement that was not immediately qualified, watered down, and finally annulled—for example, “I was angry—well, almost,—well, I don't really know.”

She came to see me because she was in a fully developed sadomasochistic relationship. The suffering that she experienced (and in turn inflicted) was so great that she was not able to work. She told me the following about the history of that problem and about her background.

She was a daughter of a couple so troubled that it was difficult for them to even maintain their middle-class respectability. Both of them were drinking—the mother, evidently the more troubled parent, was the first one to start. She seemed to have been thinking and acting mostly on a concrete level. Therefore, she was unable to perceive any value in herself but her good looks, and she deteriorated when they began to fade. She was either indifferent of Mary or contemptuous of her and openly favored Mary's younger sister, who had both her mother's showy beauty and her aggressive nature. When drunk, the mother could be threatening.

For as long as Mary could remember, her adjustment to this situation w