The Case of Lena S.

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The Art of Betrayal and Depression The Case of Lena S. by David Bergen is about the life of sixteen year old Mason Crowe, growing up in Winnipeg with his family. The story centres on him and his complicated relationship with Lena Schellendal, a seventeen year old girl who suffers manic depression. Lena is both possessive and aggressive and lures Mason into her world until he is trapped and held prisoner in it. The story explores the heart of Mason’s relationships and how sanity vs. insanity can co-exist with each other. Whenever Mason isn’t with Lena, he reads to a blind man named Mr. Ferry, who lives by himself and has two cats. The story contains all of the emotional things teenagers may go through, heartache, betrayal and the hurt and confusion that comes from ones most intimate relationships. A Year of Lesser by David Bergen is about a Mennonite community which takes place in the small prairie town of Lesser. Johnny Fehr is the main character who is a feed supply salesman and husband to Charlene Behr. Loraine Wallace is the woman who Johnny is cheating on his wife with, and although Lesser is a small town, it is full of dark secrets which can and are easily made public. David Bergen uses the themes of depression and betrayal as a combination in both of these novels, he makes the depression clear and the betrayals very raw. Bergen shows that these acts come from the archetypal “martyr” image, a character(s)who lashes out at other(s) due to personal reasons. Torres 2 He illustrates this in The Case of Lena S. through Lena Schellendal with Mason Crowe and in A Year of Lesser through Johnny Fehr with Charlene and Loraine. The similarities between Johnny and Lena in terms of thinking and acting are evidently similar, and the outcomes of both their betrayals are similar but with distinction. Comparing The Case of Lena S. first can illustrate the
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