Blog#3 Topic #3

The word “Insanity” according the Merriam Webster is defined as the “severely disordered state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder.” Even though this definition gives us an overall idea of what Insanity means it leaves out the different extents that this definition can be altered due to difference in personal experience. Insanity could mean differently to different people, this definition is just a base to which people add their personal experiences and change the meaning of it as a whole.  

As an Indian my culture may seem odd to other people but to me it is very normal. When we have a funeral, every one wears white but in a Christian wedding the bride wears white. For a non-Indian wearing white at a funeral is odd but for me wearing white at a wedding is odd.  In the United States on Valentine’s Day everything is red and it is a popular event, but in India it is not a popular celebration and red is mainly used at a wedding. Once again for a non-Indian he would find this insane but I find red on Valentine’s Day insane. 

If we take an example from class, the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, there is a character named Blanche, in class discussion some people said she was insane but some also said she is normal. It just depends on what we as an individual define the word “insanity” which alters the way we look at things. Blanche had almost lost everything that was very important to her. Over time she had lost possession of her estate, suffered from the suicide of her homosexual husband, and was forced into sexual activity with her sister’s fiancé after which she ended up being taken away by doctors.

In the start of the play, Blanch portrayed a very calm, composed, innocent and a well-rounded person, until Stanley rats out on Blanche, telling Stella what truly lies behind that façade. At this point it hits us all that what we thought about her in the start is what she wanted to be and how she wanted everyone to look at her, but that was not who she truly was. Though this makes her look like a crazy person, but when we look at her past her reaction to everything seems very rational as she has gone through life changing events at an early age. These tragedies contributed in making Blanche choose to hide her reality and live in a fantasy. I believe she is sane because she wasn’t crazy from birth she was involved in life changing events that made her this way.  Hence, we can see Merriam Webster’s definition is very vague, and Blanche’s insanity is defined by what circumstances she went through.

“SANE is the INSANITY most call NORMALITY put forth by Society”

~ Anonymous