I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg
"I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," written by Joanne Greenberg, tells the poignant story of a young girl named Deborah, who struggles with severe mental illness and finds herself in a psychiatric hospital. The narrative unfolds as Deborah confronts her traumatic past, which includes feelings of abandonment, early health challenges, and social ostracism. Throughout her treatment, she develops a complex imaginary world called Yr, which initially provides solace but eventually becomes a source of tyranny. The novel highlights the therapeutic relationship between Deborah and her doctor, Dr. Fried, emphasizing the importance of compassionate care in the healing process.
As Deborah progresses through her therapy, she begins to recognize the roots of her suffering and the realities of her relationships, particularly with her family. The story serves as a reflection on the emotional impacts of social change and the expectations placed upon children by their parents. Greenberg's work not only illustrates the journey of healing for those with severe mental health issues but also resonates with anyone facing emotional struggles. Overall, the novel offers insight into the complexities of mental illness while advocating for understanding and kindness in the healing process.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg
First published: 1964
Type of work: Psychological realism
Themes: Health and illness, emotions, family, race and ethnicity, friendship, suicide, and coming-of-age
Time of work: The 1940’s and early 1950’s
Recommended Ages: 15-18
Locale: Chicago and a mental hospital two days’ drive away
Principal Characters:
Deborah Blau , a schizophrenic girl who has experienced several traumatic events in her childhood which have led to her present conditionDr. Clara (Furii) Fried , a distinguished and kindly therapist who gives acceptance and insightEsther Blau , Deborah’s mother, who is the daughter of a wealthy Jewish immigrant from LatviaJacob Blau , Deborah’s father, an immigrant from PolandCarla Stoneham , a patient in D Ward, who becomes Deborah’s friendMiss Coral , who teaches languages to DeborahMrs. King , the kindly landlady from whom Deborah rents a room after she becomes an outpatient and student
The Story
The story of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden begins midpoint between causes and cure. As Deborah’s treatment progresses, she is gradually able to face some of her early painful experiences and see how they contributed to her present predicament. Through her flashbacks the reader learns of these events. At the story’s opening, Deb is being driven by her parents to a private psychiatric hospital. Here she is placed in B Ward, which is for the less obviously disturbed. Dr. Fried begins a gradual exploration of Deborah’s past for clues to her sickness.
Deborah was born in 1932, just before Adolf Hitler’s persecution of the Jews became widespread. When Deb was two years old, her mother was away for some time, and Deb felt abandoned, that all love was leaving her. At age five she developed a tumor in her kidney and at first was punished and humiliated for her incontinence. Surgery removed the tumor but brought harsh pain. Shortly after this event, her sister Suzy was born. Aware now that she had been jealous of the attention given her sister, Deb believes that she had tried to murder Suzy, but in therapy she learns that this had only been a wish, not actually done, and so Deb now does not need to be so afraid of her anger.
At school, where Deb was the only Jew among Gentiles, and then during three summers at camp, she encountered ostracism and snubs. At age ten she was diagnosed by a school psychologist as “disturbed.” Her parents moved to the city, where she was comparatively happy, but in a year returned to the grandparents’ elegant home in the suburbs. At age sixteen Deborah punctured her wrists in a suicide attempt—a plea for help.
After some time in the milder B Ward, Deborah is moved to D Ward, because she has been deliberately cutting her arm. Here she has the freedom to be crazy: She no longer has to use energy to keep up appearances. In therapy she comes to feel some rapport with the kindly Dr. Fried, who spends the first year breaking down Deborah’s defenses. When Dr. Fried is away for two months, Deb feels anger at the deprivation. Now her hates and terrors start coming to the surface. Frequently she has to be put in “cold-pack” while her internal volcano erupts. Gradually this inner turmoil lessens, as it spends itself.
The illness had developed because of pain, deprivation, attacks on her self-esteem, false promises and other lies, a lack of genuine motherly love, and a pattern of violent rages in Deborah’s father. Since reality was so painful, Deb had developed another world, the imaginary world of Yr (related to the word “eerie”). At first it was a world of beauty and joy, yet after she became “hooked” by it, it changed into a tyrannical world. At the beginning of therapy, however, she cannot relinquish the security it has offered. Her language in the Yr world has at times the “word salad” often characteristic of schizophrenics: It seems nonsensical to a bystander but may have some internal logic to the patient. Eventually Deb comes to realize that the persons in Yr are simply projections of elements inside her own mind.
Gradually Deb becomes able to recognize slight instances of goodness in others on the ward and in herself. She becomes friends with a fellow patient, Carla. Deb starts shifting away from the only reality she has known, one of horror and loneliness, and moving into a world of hope.
After three years in D Ward, she moves to B Ward, goes home for a visit, and recognizes some goodness in her parents. She rents a room in town and becomes an outpatient. She takes tutorials and is able to pass the high school equivalency examination; she is now eligible to go to college. She senses the appeal of a male attendant’s sexuality, though he marries a nurse shortly afterward. Deb then relapses briefly into D Ward, where she has the freedom to make the decision to abandon Yr and live only in the real world.
Context
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden portrays the serious emotional consequences that may result from a too rapid social change, requiring adjustments that tax human flexibility. It also points out the danger of parents’ attempts to ameliorate their own frustrations by forcing their children into inappropriate roles and behaviors.
More significantly, the novel represents the processes of healing and growth. Relationship to a healing, nonjudgmental, loving person is crucial; this person can also image or model a healthy personality. Also necessary is an environment that to some degree is helpful and not unnecessarily hurtful, and where tensions can be safely released.
The significance of the novel also lies in its applicability to the lesser ailments of the sane. They too can be healed by similar techniques of love, protection, temporary escape from the damaging, and provision of a satisfactory outlet for negative emotions. Hannah Green’s work contrasts with Fyodor Dostoevski’s novel Prestupleniye i nakazaniye (1866; Crime and Punishment, 1886), also about the processes of healing for a schizophrenic; there, confession, punishment, love, and God are the healing agents.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden presents a clear picture of the world from a psychotic’s perspective and effectively delineates aspects of the schizophrenic process. One should consider, however, that this is a literary construct and is not in all respects comparable to a case study of an actual schizophrenic. Since the date of its publication, research has indicated nutritional and chemical factors in schizophrenia which the novel does not address. The study of family systems and therapy for the entire family has also become a significant factor in the treatment of this disease.
Bibliography
Berman, Jeffrey. “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: The Limits of the Fictional Psychiatric Case Study.” In The Talking Cure: Literary Representations of Psychoanalysis. New York: New York University Press, 1985. Berman discusses how fictional works centering around psychological complications can be used as both teaching and diagnostic models. The chapter on I Never Promised You a Rose Garden discusses how this novel provides insight into the troubled world of the schizophrenic.
Green, Hannah. Interview by Susan Koppelman. Belle Lettres: A Review of Books by Women 8 (Summer, 1993): 32-36. Focuses on the career of Joanne Greenberg (Hannah Green). Greenberg discusses the publication of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and talks about her life not as an orthodox Jew but as a “paradoxical” one. Provides useful background for any study of Green’s work.
Greenberg, Joanne. “Go Where You’re Sent: An Interview with Joanne Greenberg.” Interview by Kenneth L. Gibble. The Christian Century 102 (November 20, 1985): 1063-1066. In this interview, Greenberg discusses how she enjoys not being pigeonholed as a certain type of writer. She writes about those topics that she considers important. Many of her works deal with the darker or more uncomfortable aspects of human existence.
Greenberg, Joanne. “Interview: Joanne Greenberg.” Interview by Susan Koppleman. Belles Lettres: A Review of Books for Women 8 (Summer, 1993): 32-36. Greenberg discloses that much of her writing comes from unhappiness with her surroundings or social conditions. She tells how she joined the writing profession after becoming despondent while living in New York City.
Greenberg, Joanne. “PW Interviews Joanne Greenberg.” Interview by Sybil Steinberg. Publishers Weekly 234 (September 23, 1988): 50-51. This interview discloses Greenberg’s interest in the lives of physically and emotionally challenged individuals and observes that she in no way condescends to her subjects. Much of Greenberg’s works are based on the author’s own experiences.
Lewis, Janette S. “Joanne Greenberg.” In American Women Writers, 1980, edited by Lina Mainiero. Profiles the life and career of Greenberg.
Rubin, Stephen E. “Conversations with the Author of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” The Psychoanalytic Review 59 (1972/1973): 201-216. Rubin presents a psychological interpretation of Green’s fictionalized account of her schizophrenia.
Wolfe, Kary K., and Gary K. Wolfe. “Metaphors of Madness: Popular Psychological Narratives.” Journal of Popular Culture 9 (Spring, 1976): 895-907. Greenberg’s novel is discussed in some depth as an illustration of works that have contributed to an increase in the popularity of fiction with a psychological foundation.
Yivisaker, Miriam. Review of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Hannah Green. Library Journal. 89 (February 15, 1964): 881. A laudatory contemporary review.