Anxiety

Nina’s struggles with anxiety highlights how difficult and real of an illness it actually is. The author wants the reader to understand that this is a genuine illness that should not be ignored or belittled.

First, it is important to identify how the author feels about anxiety. At the end of the novel, when Nina calls her panic attack stupid, Lydia outright states that, “It’s not stupid. Anxiety is the most common mental illness in America, with over forty million sufferers” (309). While this does a fantastic job of stating the facts outright, it is the narrator’s voice that explores the idea more thoroughly. Their tone, in particular, changes depending on how Nina feels. This is used to show the audience both sides of anxiety; the playful and the serious. At the beginning of the novel, the narrator is laid back and often finds...