This is the 75th anniversary edition of The Snake Pit, originally published in 1946. The book is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author's committal to New York's Rockland State Hospital in 1941.
Author Mary Jane Ward
This update also includes an Afterword that discusses the 1948 movie 'The Snake Pit', starring Olivia de Haviland.
FYI: The photos in the review are from The Snake Pit movie.
*****
Virginia Cunningham finds herself sitting in a park, confused and hearing voices.
Sitting beside her is an attractive girl in a hoover apron, which Virginia considers inappropriate attire for leaving the house.
Moreover, Virginia is dismayed by her own dress, thinking she shouldn't be wearing this old rag because "you cannot go out on New York streets looking any old way."
Virginia blames the warmth of the sun for the confused thoughts and memories that meander through her head. She does know she's a novelist, and feels she should befriend 'hoover girl' who seems down on her luck.
Then Virginia's reflections are interrupted by a shrill voice saying, "All right. ladies." Hoover girl - whose name is Grace - springs up, pulls Virginia along, and hurries her to a line of women heading into a building. Virginia asks where they're going but Grace admonishes Virginia not to speak, because talking isn't allowed.
Virginia speculates she's in a zoo, because of the smell and odd-looking residents. When Virginia doesn't see cages, she decides it's not a zoo but an institution she's researching for her next novel - either a training school for underprivileged and delinquent girls or a prison.
Afterwards, going to the community washroom with a group of inmates, Virginia knows. She knows the prison idea is nonsense. She had invented a fantasy setting. Because around her in the washroom are women who are shut up with her, women who are far more wretched than criminals. Women who are "crazy."
Virginia knows she's been institutionalized at Juniper Hill Hospital for some time. She's also aware she has a husband named Robert.....
.....and a psychiatrist called Dr. Kik.
Virginia is in Ward 3, which is less restrictive than higher number wards but more repressive than Ward 1, from which most patients go home.
Virginia doesn't relish mealtime because she can't remember where to sit and the other women take all the food, which she doesn't like anyway. Virginia also has problems with work therapy: on floor cleaning duty she confuses the wet mop and dry mop; on floor polishing detail, the polisher is too heavy to push; in the sewing room, she can't work the machine; when bed-making is required, she can't make a hospital corner; when folding and stacking laundry, Virginia confuses the sheets, pillowcases, and slips, etc.
Virginia thinks there's something wrong with her head. Virginia is even suspicious of visits from her beloved husband Robert. She's certain the hospital substitutes a realistic imposter, and frequently feels the need to test his authenticity.
In the institute, Virginia's 'progress' is often one step forward, two steps back. After a series of electroshock treatments.....
.....Virginia goes to 'Staff' (a group of doctors who assess a patient's readiness to go home) to be evaluated for release.
Virginia gets confused and upset, and bites a psychiatrist's finger. Instead of being released, Virginia is sent back for further treatment.
During Virginia's stay at Juniper Hill she's moved back and forth from one ward to another, and - in addition to shock therapy - Virginia is (at one time or another) heavily medicated; wrapped in cold wet packs that inhibit movement; placed in restrictive lukewarm tubs; put into straitjackets; force fed with a tube; and more.
None of this is meant to be abusive, and indeed some of it may aid Virginia's recovery. Nevertheless this therapy is reminiscent of horror movies about insane asylums. Also as in films, some nurses are kind and friendly while others are sharp and harsh.
Sanitary conditions in Juniper Hill are less than ideal. Showers are restricted to a couple of minutes twice a week; clothing is rarely washed; and toilet paper - dispensed by a nurse as needed - sometimes runs out. Grooming is also sparse: an inmate's hair is combed once a week by a nurse and 'nice clothes' are restricted to visiting day and going to Staff.
On the upside, the patients bond with each other, and share cigarettes, chocolates, and gifts from home. Virginia describes some of the women incarcerated with her, including a woman who dances all day; a woman who has conversations with her invisible brother; a woman who sings all the time; a woman who thinks she's an aristocrat; a woman who doesn't speak a word; a woman who does the Charleston and sings Sweet Georgia Brown; and more. Though the women's' illnesses are sad, there's a humorous vibe to this.
There are also aggressive and violent women, and Virginia learns to avoid them.
Through it all Virginia and her husband Robert rely on Dr. Kik to help Virginia get better. Dr. Kik and other doctors at the institute apparently succeed, because Virginia is released.
However Virginia's illness, supposedly caused by financial problems and stress, is never affirmatively diagnosed. (In real life, the author - Mary Jane Ward - was committed three more times during her life, in 1957, 1969 and 1976).
The narrative, mostly told in the first person, shows that Virginia is intelligent, articulate, and has a good sense of humor.
Virginia sometimes jokes with the doctors, and when one nurse tells another that Virginia "itesbay, ickskay, and is utsnay", Virginia thinks of things that prove she's not utsnay (nuts).
The original book published in 1946 ends with Virginia's release from Juniper Hill. This revised edition goes on to discuss he 1948 movie, The Snake Pit. I watched the film (which is available on YouTube) to compare book and movie. The movie is good but should be thought of as a separate entity from the book.
Some scenes in the movie closely follow the novel, and some parts are made up out of whole cloth. For example, the filmmakers felt compelled to explain Virginia's illness. Thus Dr. Kik psychoanalyzes Virginia and uncover the childhood traumas that led to her illness. This is straight out of a Freud handbook and there's nothing about it in the novel.
Also, movieland Virginia - during her stay at Juniper Hill - is usually clean and well-dressed with her hair nicely combed. She's not the disheveled mess we read about in the novel. I understand movie license but would have liked to see a more realistic depiction of the book.
The Snake Pit was a best seller in the 1940s, and led to changes in the mental health industry. It's still worth reading and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley, Mary Jane Ward, and Library of America for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4 stars