Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness

by William Styron

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Albert Camus
Albert Camus (1913–1960) was a renowned French author and thinker who had a profound impact on Styron's literary work and his contemplation of the human condition. In the 1930s, Camus managed a theater company and became a prominent figure in the French Resistance. His notable works include The Plague, The Fall, The Rebel, and A Happy Death. In 1957, he was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature. Styron credits Camus' novel The Stranger as a major influence on his own book, The Confessions of Nat Turner, a psychological exploration of an American slave. Additionally, Styron cites Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus as a source of immense courage during his personal struggles, encapsulating its message as: "In the absence of hope, we must struggle to survive—by the skin of our teeth." Romain Gary had intended to introduce Styron to Camus over dinner, but Camus tragically passed away in a car accident before they could meet.

Simone del Duca
Simone del Duca, the wife of wealthy Italian immigrant Cino del Duca, is the namesake of the Prix Mondial Cino del Duca. Styron describes her as "a large dark-haired woman of queenly manner." She plays a central role in Styron's emotional crisis while he is in Paris to accept the Prix Mondial Cino del Duca. During this time, his mental state was deteriorating, and he initially refused, then agreed, to attend a luncheon with Simone del Duca.

Francoise Gallimard
Gallimard is Styron’s publisher in France. Instead of attending a luncheon held in his honor with Simone del Duca, Styron arranges a lunch date with Gallimard.

Romain Gary
Romain Gary, a Lithuanian-born Russian Jew, was a writer and close friend to both Styron and Camus. His literary works include The Life Before Us, Promise at Dawn, European Education, Goodbye Gary Cooper, and Lady L. He was married to actress Jean Seberg. Styron discusses Gary's life, his battles with depression, and his eventual suicide as a means to reflect on his own struggles with depression.

Dr. Gold
Dr. Gold, introduced in chapter five, is Styron's psychiatrist who trained at Yale. Styron compares his interactions with Dr. Gold to Emma Bovary's relationship with the village priest in Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary. Just as the priest could not alleviate Madame Bovary's suffering, Dr. Gold offered Styron only superficial reassurances. Despite meeting with Styron twice weekly, Dr. Gold's treatment was largely ineffective, focusing primarily on prescribing antidepressants like Nardil. Gold represents the modern medical field's impersonal approach to depression, viewing it almost solely as a physical condition.

Abbie Hoffman
Hoffman was a prominent counter-culture icon and one of the founders of the Yippies, a group known for their political activism and pranks, notably causing chaos at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. In 1970, Styron testified on his behalf. Hoffman passed away in 1989 after consuming over 150 phenobarbitals. Styron believes that Hoffman’s death, similar to many other celebrities and renowned writers he mentions, stemmed from depression and could have been averted with appropriate treatment and care.

William James
James authored The Varieties of Religious Experience, which Styron references as an attempt to depict depression, though he finds it unsuccessful in capturing the true essence of the condition.

Randall Jarrell
Jarrell was an American poet and critic who struggled with depression and mental illness throughout his life. He died in 1965 after being struck by a car. Styron uses Jarrell, much like Hoffman, to exemplify someone who took their own life due to the overwhelming pain of severe depression. Styron discusses the stigma...

(This entire section contains 1231 words.)

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surrounding suicide and how those close to victims often try to portray their deaths differently.

Howard Kushner
Kushner wrote the book Destruction in the Promised Land. In it, the social historian argues that incomplete mourning is a significant factor contributing to depression and suicide. Styron reflects on Kushner’s theory to examine his own childhood and the challenges he faced mourning his mother’s death, which may have played a role in his adult depression.

Primo Levi
Primo Levi was an Italian author and Auschwitz survivor who died after falling down a stairwell in Turin in 1987. Levi was reportedly ill and suffering from depression. Styron, who explored Holocaust survival in his novel Sophie’s Choice, speculates that Levi’s death was a suicide induced by depression. He wrote a letter to the New York Times emphasizing that suicide cannot be fully prevented until people grasp the profound agony experienced by those with depression. Styron criticizes the intellectual community for dismissing Levi’s depression as a valid cause of his suicide, arguing that outsiders cannot truly comprehend the suffering endured by those with depression.

Jean Seberg
Seberg was the wife of Romain Gary and an actress from Iowa who took her own life after struggling with depression. Styron describes her during her depressive episodes: ‘‘All her once fragile and luminous blond beauty had disappeared into a puffy mask. She moved like a sleepwalker, said little, and had the blank gaze of someone tranquilized . . . nearly to the point of catalepsy.’’ This portrayal is crucial, as Styron uses it to highlight how an outsider cannot fully understand what someone with severe depression is experiencing at the time. His realization of Seberg’s suffering dawns only after he tries to comprehend his own depression.

Rose Styron
Rose Styron, the author's enduringly patient wife, travels with him to Paris and remains constantly by his side. The author portrays her as, "The endlessly patient soul who had become nanny, mommy, comforter, priestess, and, most important, confidant–a counselor or rocklike centrality to my existence whose wisdom far exceeded that of Dr. Gold." Notably, Styron never mentions her physical appearance.

William Styron
William Styron is the protagonist of his own narrative, detailing his struggle with depression. He recounts the significant events of his depressive episode, from its onset in October 1985 to the beginning of his recovery in February 1986. At sixty years old, Styron faces the full brunt of his depression, documenting its impact on his body, his relationships, particularly with his wife Rose and his friends, and his life. He describes his gradual isolation from friends and his previous life, his inability to work, and the loss of his voice and libido. Everything readers learn about other characters is filtered through Styron's interactions with them. He shifts between being reflective and nostalgic, wistful and indignant, as he contemplates the debilitating nature of depression and how it drained all life and hope from him.

Therapist
The unnamed hospital therapist is well-meaning but almost comically inept in her approach. Styron describes her as "a delirious young woman with a fixed, indefatigable smile, who was plainly trained at a school offering courses in Teaching Art to the mentally ill." She is persistently enthusiastic in her praise of those in group therapy, almost to a ridiculous degree. Her therapy sessions involve having group members draw pictures and create clay models based on themes they found interesting. Although Styron felt infantilized by many of these activities, he eventually "became fond" of her.

Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf, a renowned British feminist and author, also grappled with depression and severe mood swings. Her notable works include To The Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, A Wave, and A Room of One’s Own. Woolf ended her life by drowning herself in the River Ouse. She is mentioned in Styron’s list of famous writers and artists who succumbed to suicide due to their depression.

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