Mr. Birling And Inspector Goole As Polar Opposites In An Inspector Calls

There is an invisible, silent killer in American society. It affects about a fourth of global population and kills 8 million people each year. However, it’s often underestimated because there are no physical marks. Even though mental illness does not directly harm the body, it is still a serious condition that causes daily pain. The victims have low self-esteem and a negative view of the world. If the intrusive thinking is not treated, the victims could even end their lives. Additionally, they hear voices telling them that positive experiences, food, and love aren’t for them. Wintergirls’ protagonist Lia is just one of many teens who suffer from a fatal eating disorder as a result of chronic depression. Lia began to heal from her mental illness after a lifelong struggle. She became good friends with Cassie. After a few years, their relationship became strained and they started to drift apart. Lia dismissed a disturbing call she received from Cassie at midnight. Cassie’s last call was made the following morning when her childhood friend was discovered dead in a hotel room. Lia’s guilt over not being able to stop her friend from dying leads her to have suicidal thoughts and relapse into caloric restrictions. Lia’s near-death experience in Wintergirls is a result of depression caused by her friend dying. It highlights the importance for friends to help with recovery.

Lia’s rapidly degrading health was caused by her grief after her best-friend’s passing, underlining her complex relationship between mental illness and her grief. Lia is a victim of a range of mental illness, including anxiety, depression and anorexia. She had almost recovered from her second stay in hospital, but a few intrusive thought still remained. She began to lose control of her mind as soon as she heard about Cassie’s passing. Lia’s constant curiosity about Cassie and her death is emphasized by the narration, “What did [Cassie] do there? What was Cassie thinking? Was it painful? It’s pointless to ask why, although everyone will. Why? I’m not sure… It’s amazing that she had no answers. My wings are beating so hard that I cannot hear anything. I have to run and fly. It’s raining, it’s raining, and I am drowning. Was it simple?” (Anderson, 14). Lia’s isolation from her best friend during her last months is clearly haunting her. She even refused to answer the phone on the night she died. Lia may insist to her family and close friends that Cassie is no longer important to her, but she’s haunted in her mind by Cassie and her death. Her mental illness intensifies her conflicting thoughts. Lia gets depressed at the funeral for her friend and hallucinates that Cassie is blinking, once or twice, opening her eyes wide. She looks directly at me. She reaches up to touch her hair… Cassie stands slowly… she laughs with a low and dirty sound. She’s disappeared from the grave” (Anderson 88) Lia was deeply affected by the vivid image of her friend’s spirit leaving the coffin. In the past, she could block out her guilt about her friend’s passing by self-harming and starving herself. Now that Cassie was “haunting”, Lia is forced to confront the ghosts in her life and appease Cassie’s spirits. In addition to her anorexia becoming worse, Cassie’s ghost also makes her isolate herself from friends and her family, which are her last remaining links to the outside world. Hsin-Chun Tsai says that Lia is so obsessed with her disease, she ignores all her problems. She also refuses all the good things in life. Lia becomes more andmore isolated. Russell cleverly notes that “[t]heir world is confined to the calories in an apple, the weight on the scale… Lia has become the casualty of her own battle” (Tsai). Lia’s near-recovery was derailed by Cassie’s untimely death. It weakened her mental and physical functions so that Lia could only speak to Cassie’s imaginary friend. Lia didn’t realize that her isolation would lead to the very thing she wanted to avoid – a “wintergirl”.

Lia is made to feel resentful by her mental disorder after Lia interacts with “wintergirl”, the mythical manifestation of Cassie’s soul that is not alive or dead. Lia wants a fuller recovery. Lia, Cassie, and the other characters in the novel describe the wintergirl’s future as one that is both enticing and grim. They say, “We walked together down the gingerbread trail into the woods, with blood on our fingertips.” We kissed and danced with monsters. We made us wintergirls. When she left, I dragged her back to the snow as I was afraid of being alone. Wintergirl is a clear reference to anorexia. The patient dances with death to achieve a unhealthily thin frame. Anorexics are convinced that they control their weight until they realize the danger of gaining it. Cassie lost weight to achieve happiness but instead she met with an untimely death. Lia, if Cassie doesn’t change her ways, will soon be following. Hsin Chun Tsai says, “In conclusion, she will be consumed.” She becomes “wintergirl”, a character caught between the worlds that are alive and dead. This in-between life prompts Cassie’s spirit to refer to her as a ghost who has a beating, who will soon be crossing the border into the now-dead Cassie’s territory (Tsai). Lia, who is afraid of being alone and is on the verge of death, does not have the ability to recover. Her anorexic behavior is her only means to cope. Lia feels that her life is so devoid of joy, she can only wait until she dies. She has been physically and mentally depleted of hope by her mental illness. Lia was initially resentful of her dying friend and how she “found a way to escape” the daily struggles of life. Lia’s desire to be normal, healthy, and happy grows as she becomes more dissociated from reality. Lia wants to be like her friend and not die, but she still feels that it is an impossible goal. Lia’s most vulnerable moment, a near-death event, was the catalyst for her eventual recovery.

Lia is finally able, following a near-death encounter, to realize that her health must be prioritized. She also uses the grief she feels over the death of her friend to motivate her to heal. Her parents threatened to hospitalize her for her eating disorders after learning that Cassie was a bulimic. Lia feels trapped and frustrated, so she runs from home. She refuses to eat for days. In the same room that Cassie died from an esophageal tear, Lia’s malnourished body begins to fail organs. Cassie’s spirit described to Lia the devastation her starvation had left behind. “Your renal failure occurred a couple of hour ago.” The combination of dehydration, exhaustion and almost an overdose ?… is causing your lungs to fill. I can’t wait a couple more minutes… my heart falls. I breathe. My lungs don’t expand. I’m tempted to give up for a brief moment. Freeze” (Anderson 270). Lia immediately becomes more determined to survive and no longer wishes to be a sufferer. When asked if she would like to continue on in the afterlife, Lia replies, “but i don’t want” (Anderson, 270). Lia overcomes her mental disorder and makes amends with her best friend by saying, “Oh, Lia, this is great.” I would never have thought to do this. Or take the best pieces with me. She is transparent. I apologize for not answering. Her eyes sparkled with stars. ‘I am sorry I did not call earlier’ (Anderson 273). The scene is a hallucination, but it represents a turning-point in Lia’s story. Her newfound friendship gives her the motivation to keep living. Cassie’s legacy may have been lost, but Lia is carrying on her legacy. Lia’s inner demons can be fought, recovered, and her life reclaimed by Lia after she has let go of the past and repaired her friendship.

Lia’s renewed friendship with Cassie is what ultimately motivates her to overcome her mental ailments. Lia is consumed with depression and an eating disorder after Cassie’s battle with mental illness ends. She seems unable to recover her health. As her symptoms worsen and she experiences psychedelic-like hallucinations, Lia realizes how valuable her life is. Her will to live is also bolstered after a near-death experience where she saves both her life and Cassie’s. Wintergirls is a realistic and intimate portrayal of mental health, an issue that affects our country in a big way. It is never too early for someone suffering from a mental disorder to get help. Scientifically, having a support network of family, friends, and medical supervision can ease the recovery process.