Transgressive Literature: Navigating Pros and Cons
Introduction
Spoiler warning!
Without a doubt, my favorite hobby is reading. My favorite novel genres are horror and transgressive, whose robust name mirrors many of the themes of these kinds of books. Books like Fight Club, American Psycho, and Lolita are often put into both categories. What I love most about them is that they often teach me about the many social and medical struggles people face in the modern world, especially in terms of mental health. All three of these books focus on diagnosable mental health disorders found in the DSM-V: (in order) insomnia, narcissistic personality disorder, and pedophilia. After reading them regularly since the sixth grade, I know that being exposed to this broad range of mental disorders at a young age most definitely founded my interest in studying them. But is literature really the best way to learn about mental health disorders?
Pros
Horror and transgressive novels are often one’s introduction to mental disorders, becoming more popular when they are adapted to films that people are more likely to indulge in. As these novels frequently address taboo topics, they could even cause public outcry about interpersonal and intrapersonal safety and health. Many view Lolita as appalling due to the unreliable narrator of the novel, Humbert Humbert, who is a pedophile himself. Though many misunderstand the narrator’s opinions to be the author’s (Vladimir Nabokov), the book shows the shockingly simple ways in which a child can be abducted if not under proper care. Similarly, American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman is able to commit the murders of many disadvantaged people in New York using his position as a Wall Street banker, symbolizing a more significant theme about the misuse of power.
In addition to a greater awareness of their existence, mental disorders also gain public interest through literature. Only decades ago, having a mental illness was taboo, leaving victims to feel ashamed and afraid. For example, the famous comedian Howie Mandel went 40 years before being diagnosed with OCD, even facing suicidal thoughts about what the public might think of him. Today, Mandel participates in written interviews about the disorder to spread the word about his struggles. Not only does the public better understand mental disorders when people who have them speak out through literature, but they also develop more positive opinions about mental illness when their favorite celebrity has one.
Cons
Despite this, one major negative to learning about mental disorders through literature is that the characters who have them are often villainized. Every novel listed in the introduction includes a character that harms another person under the influence of their mental disorder. Characters with dangerous mental disorders are a common and popular occurrence in horror novels—as everyone is terrified of encountering the crazy ax-wielding psychopath. This leads to the unfortunate phenomenon of some disorders being viewed as “better” than others. For instance, the depression seen in books like 13 Reasons Why and All the Bright Places is romanticized and directed towards young, impressionable audiences. Regardless of whether a mental illness is villainized or romanticized in fiction literature, these stereotypes harm the actual individuals who have these disorders.
Additionally, since many of these books have unreliable narrators, one could argue that these novels promote unhealthy or inappropriate behavior. Insomniac Edward Norton of Fight Club promotes an anarchic vision of society by urinating in guests’ dishes as a waiter at a high-end restaurant. Author Chuck Palahniuk was later told at a book signing that one fan had followed in Norton’s footsteps by doing the same to a famous actress. In worse cases, books like Stephen King’s Rage inspired multiple school shootings when mentally ill individuals took the main character’s advice to heart. Instead of seeking treatment, mentally ill characters in horror or transgressive novels often act in dangerous, eccentric ways that are unrepresentative of how a real victim of the disorder acts or should act.
Conclusion
Much literature involving characters with mental illnesses (especially that of the works in the horror or transgressive genre) is unrepresentative of the average person with a mental health disorder. Readers can be influenced to copy these famous characters if their actions are taken too literally, ignoring the message the author is trying to send by using narrators as symbols for a greater purpose. That said, novels like these are great fun if one is looking for a fictional scare. For more practical purposes, increased interest in reading about these villainized characters' perils and awful decisions further instills in the public’s minds that treatment should be prioritized. These dangerous actions could be viewed as an incentive to receive treatment yourself or advise a friend to receive treatment so that one does not get into the life-threatening trouble these fictional characters get into.