The Psychological Issues of Cutting Essay

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Deconstructing Gillian Flynn's Work

There are multiple themes found in Gillian Flynn's novel Sharp Objects. This book explores various aspects of small town life versus that of the big city, family issues, and mental illness. However, all of these different issues are related to the human condition in some way. At the crux of these themes is the overarching motif that the author is actually issuing commentary about human nature itself. A close read of the text as well as that of psychological literature related to Sharp Objects reveals that the author is exploring the theme of human nature and what it means to be human to indicate that it is inherently morbid.

This thesis is found in several different passages in this book. However, it comes across the clearest in the characterization of the novel's first-person narrator and protagonist, Camille Preaker. Preaker exemplifies how morbid human nature is in a couple of important ways. Firstly, she had an unhappy childhood due to her dysfunctional family in a small town in Missouri. Secondly, she has incurred mental illness due to that traumatic childhood. Thirdly, she has coped with these problems by taking them out on herself. Preaker is what is known as a cutter, someone who mutilates himself or herself simply by cutting various words into their own flesh. The words that Preaker cuts emphasize her self-destructive urges: they include words such as "wicked" and "whore," which obviously demonstrate how she feels about herself. These self-destructive urges exemplify the morbidity that the author shows the reader about human nature in this book.

It is interesting to note that mutilating one's self has significant psychological implications, and yields insight into the parts of human nature that Flynn has chosen as the dominant theme in Sharp Objects. In fact, cutting as an expression of self-mutilation perfectly reinforces the author's viewpoint that human nature is morbid. The four principle reasons for this action include the desire "1) to reduce negative emotions, 2) to feel "something" besides numbness or emptiness, 3) to avoid certain social situations, 4) to receive social support" (Selby). All of these reasons suggest that there are many negative traits associated with human nature. These include negative feelings, a lack of feeling anything at all, social anxiety, and the need for help. People can address all of these different part of their lives in other ways that are healthier.

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However, Flynn has chosen a character to express these negative aspects of human nature in an even more negative way, because she is suggesting that human nature itself is morbid.

There are other facets of Preaker's characterization that reinforce the theme that human nature is somehow fundamentally morbid. One of the most convincing of these is the fact that she has changed vices as she transitioned from childhood to adulthood. Whereas before she preferred to cut herself, as an adult she prefers substance abuse. Specifically, is an alcoholic. Alcohol is a known depressant. As someone who has mental illnesses stemming from her childhood, alcohol is one of the last things that could help this character cope with her life. However, the author's point in writing this story is that human nature is not necessarily designed to cope, but rather to destroy itself. It is difficult to argue this fact considering the following passage in which Preaker reveals that she "drank more vodka. There was nothing I wanted to do more than be unconscious again, wrapped in black, gone away" (Flynn). These sort of musings are nothing short of self-destructive. They demonstrate that one of the author's chief motifs in writing this novel is that human nature is fundamentally morbid, and wants to harm itself.

Flynn also conveys this them in more subtle ways. For instance, there is an interesting duality between the outside world and the internal side of human nature. Externally, Preaker is fairly attractive and has a pretty face. However, she makes a point to always cover up the rest of her skin which is almost completely mutilated. The significance of this fact is that human nature ultimately has something to hide -- its morbid, negative side. Preaker embodies this duality, which is why she is afraid for people to see her skin beneath her clothes. Similarly, she is afraid for them to see her true character beneath her exterior. She actually gives voice to this concept when she reflects to herself, "Sometimes I think illness sits inside every….....

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