Outside Reading Q1, 2nd post!

The three main characters from the novel Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia & Bulimia, have many struggles and conflicts as a family concerning Marya. Marya has been suffering from anorexia and bulimia since the age of nine. Her symptoms to these illnesses became realized by her family in her early teens. Her parents didn’t enforce any regulations or rules with their discovery. Therefore, she wasn’t put into treatment until her twenties. She was diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa with Anorectic features, substance abuse, and major depression. When Marya was being checked at the Teenage Medical Services Clinic (TMSC) with her father, the nurse said that she was going to check her into hospital treatment at Methodist Hospital. When Marya heard this news, she went insane and out of control. She admits to her behavior, “I lost it. I started screaming,” (142). Being sent into a clinic broke her family apart. Her parents continued to bicker and fight over her, and who was the blame for her actions.

Another conflict that arose in the memoir was when she was in high school. During her struggles with anorexia and bulimia, Marya decided that drugs wouldn’t be such a bad idea either. She would rebelliously sneak out of her house at night. When her parents found out about the foul acts, they were very curious as to where she got the illegal substances. Marya explained her annoyance of her parents, “My parents wondered later, where I got the drugs. They wondered who, and how. They wanted to know when,” (74). This incident added extra trips to therapy and added many more arguments. Her parents would yet again fight over whose fault it was that she was doing drugs and who was supplying her. Throughout the memoir, Marya’s acts seem cause the characters to blame others. Marya learns that she is causing trouble in her family. Her parents learn that their competition over her has created monsters out of them. They begin to notice that they have been selfish and they try to focus more on Marya’s troubles.