When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning It Was Friday Analysis

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Margaret Nissen Expository Writing 101 Kevin Sigerman Rough Draft 2: Assignment 2 September 24, 2013 The Harmful Effects of Dissociation Many people today fall into dissociation as a way of protecting themselves. In Martha Stouts, “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,” dissociation is introduced as a coping mechanism for those who have had an abusive past or a traumatic experience. Victims of trauma sometimes do not understand what exactly happened to them that they then enter another world where they feel safe and loved. Karen Armstrong's “Homo Religiosus” emphasizes that human beings are so focused on what is important to them that sometimes they feel the need to “seek out ekstasis, a ‘stepping outside’ the norm” (27).…show more content…
However, there is a lot to her past that does not allow her to properly see her own reality. Stout states that, “In reaction to relatively trivial stresses the person traumatized long ago may truly feel that danger is imminent again” (383). However in Julia’s case this is false. Julia believed that adults forgetting their childhood was normal. In Julia’s world she thought the she was living a normal life. Since she did not remember her past she has no reason to think that danger was going to come again. Julia “would ‘go somewhere else’; she would ‘not be there’” (Stout 387). Julia was able to dissociate her mind from the abuse that was going on around her without even trying. Dissociating herself from her past caused Julia to put herself in many dangerous and confusing situations throughout her life. Julia has not only tried to commit suicide but she also has forgotten events that happened that very day or earlier in the week. In “Homo Religiosus,” “life depends on the destruction of other creatures” (Armstrong 24), enables that to move on in ones life you have to destroy a certain element or memory which leads to dissociation. In Julia’s world she destroyed her memories of being abused which unfortunately affected and altered the way she looked at reality as an…show more content…
Julia, Seth, and children who have abusive childhoods all found a way to cope with their problems BUT NOT SOLVE THEM. They are able to be “separated from everything familiar,” and be “pushed into a new state of consciousness” (Armstrong 25). The issue however that arises from dissociation is that these people are unable to grasp reality. They are unsure of what is right and what is wrong sometimes and do not understand why this happens. Many people who do not realize these dissociative experiences are greatly affected. Living life normally is very hard and for these people. Everyday life for them is different FROM those who are not dissociative. Dissociative states are very different from the outside world and thus can be very harmful to ones life which ultimately limits their perception of reality. CITATIONS Armstrong, Karen. “Homo Religiosus.” The Case for God. The New Humanities Reader, 2009, 2012. Book. 23 September 2013. Stout, Martha. “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday.” in The Myth of Sanity: Divided Consciousness and the Promise of Awareness. New York: Penguin Books, 2002. 15-43. 24 September

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