A Stand of Psychological Issues: Manifestation of Compulsion Obsessive Disorder in John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down

Abstract

Individuals with psychological disorders are unable to live a normal life. Compulsion Obsessive Disorder (OCD) is among disorders that impairs daily activities and break individual’s progress.  Individual with OCD is exposed to more distressing situations that provoke the anxious obsession, while being prevented from relieving the worry through the performance of a compulsive response. The present study gives a psychological reading to John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down.  As the novel persists in the domain of young adult literature, it takes a complex psychological turn in which Green tries to create a young adult tale based on psychological manifestations that incorporate psychoanalytic techniques' intuitions. The novel traces Aza Holmes who suffers from OCD.  As a protagonist of the novel, Aza’s mental disorder stems from two causes which are her obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior. Feeling of obsession begins from the beginning of the novel, as the obsessive thoughts inter into her mind. In this novel, Green was skillful to illustrate how negatively Aza’s mental illness impact on her personal life and how she struggles to overcome his illness in different ways.