Chapters 12 & 13 Summary and Analysis

McLean Hospital's prior patient list includes Ray Charles, James Taylor, Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath. Kaysen seems to enjoy the exclusivity of the hospital's history. The chapter details the rather complicated series of privileges extended to patients when leaving the ward. In general, nurses are assigned in varying ratios to patients when extra-hospital excursions take place. Thus, getting ready to go into Belmont for a trip to the ice cream store requires organization.

Kaysen, Polly, Georgina, Cynthia and another patient Kaysen refers to as "the Martian's girlfriend," are accompanied by three nurses into Belmont the week after Daisy's suicide. They purchase eight ice cream cones. "The Martian's girlfriend" makes a few obscene remarks, and when the employee asks if the girls want nuts, they giggle at his putatively sexual reference.