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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM)
Sylvia Plath was an American poet and novelist known for her work in the genre of confessional poetry. She suffered from mental health issues for much of her life and died by suicide in 1963 at the age of 30. Gladwell uses Plath’s suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning to launch into a broader investigation of suicide as a “coupled” behavior. He draws on the research of Ronald Clarke to show how suicide rates increased as “town gas,” which contains high levels of toxic carbon monoxide, became more readily available in London residences. This positive correlation establishes suicide as a coupled behavior, since the behavior of suicide is coupled, or linked, with factors like motive and opportunity.
Sylvia Plath Quotes in Talking to Strangers
The Talking to Strangers quotes below are all either spoken by Sylvia Plath or refer to Sylvia Plath. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
There is something about the idea of coupling—of the notion that a stranger’s behavior is tightly connected to place and context—that eludes us. It leads us to misunderstand some of our greatest poets, to be indifferent to the suicidal, and to send police officers on senseless errands. So what happens when a police officer carries that fundamental misconception—and then you add to that the problems of default to truth and transparency? You get Sandra Bland.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Talking to Strangers LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sylvia Plath Quotes in Talking to Strangers
The Talking to Strangers quotes below are all either spoken by Sylvia Plath or refer to Sylvia Plath. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
There is something about the idea of coupling—of the notion that a stranger’s behavior is tightly connected to place and context—that eludes us. It leads us to misunderstand some of our greatest poets, to be indifferent to the suicidal, and to send police officers on senseless errands. So what happens when a police officer carries that fundamental misconception—and then you add to that the problems of default to truth and transparency? You get Sandra Bland.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
