Quotes
Quotes
“But being mentally ill wasn’t like drowning, even if it sometimes felt like it. Because the thing about drowning is that someone else can save you, whether you want them to or not. And the thing about struggling with mental illness is that you have to be part of saving yourself.”
“No thank you. I wanted to keep everything closed up tight inside me where it was safe.”
“What can you do? I was born like this. Just like I have red hair and big feet … I have this thing that comes over me … like this awful black fog … when I’m inside it, there’s no light or happiness or meaning. … When I’m inside that fog I don’t believe there’s any way to get better.”
“What if hiding a thing could be harder than letting it out? Letting it go?”
This is strong evidence for letting go, letting go of the idea that someone else, outside you must do the saving. Hannah must let go of expecting rescue and take on her own healing, which is hard but necessary.
This shows Hannah’s instinct to hold on rather than risk exposure. Letting go here would mean opening herself up, allowing vulnerability, which she resists. The theme tells that safety often comes at the cost of growth.
This one shows clinging to self‑perception of hopelessness. Letting go might mean releasing belief that she’s defined by the “fog,” allowing herself to believe there is a way forward.
This shows Hannah finally realizing that when you let things go, it will ultimately help you more than hiding them in your memories and not thinking of them. If you let it go, then you'll get over it and accept it. But when you hide it, it will eventually come back to your mind, it will hurt more than the actual idea itself.