Part B - Outstanding Scenes
The first outstanding scene in Bitter Medicine is when we find out about Clem and Olivier’s youngest brother, Ben Martini’s suicide (45). Although learning that Ben has schizophrenia is also a big plot point, it’s also clearly stated on the back cover that Ben is living with this disease. Just when the reader thinks the memoir is going to chronicle the life of Ben, we discover that Olivier is also suffering from schizophrenia.
It’s an important moment when Olivier admits to Clem that he attempted suicide by the river, because he is then admitted into the hospital (61). Until then, the Martini family had kept him away from the mental health care system, understandably disillusioned with it because of what happened to his younger brother.
I believe the drawing that really shines in this graphic memoir is Olivier’s drawing of himself in an intense feelings group therapy meeting in the psychiatric ward of the hospital (70). I think it most clearly illustrates the energy that a group talking about feelings would create. There is stronger and more meaningful eye contact between the illustrated characters in this scene than in any other. These meaningful connections in tandem with the radiating beams of energy emanating from the group really captures the complex emotional nature of the scene.
When the Martini brother’s father says, “Tout est perdu au Canada”, meaning “all is lost in Canada”, it marks a significant moment in the memoir (83). It puts into words the overarching feeling and tone of the story. Feeling like the system that’s been put in place to help you is really hurting you more, feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place because you can choose to let mental illness eventually consume you by not addressing it and letting it take over your life; or opt for treatment that often isolates you from the society you so desperately want to fit into.
I was surprised to read that Martini’s parents got a divorce (85). Obviously a death in the family, accompanied with another family member dealing with the same illness that took their loved ones life is a challenging set of circumstances for any family. Clem likens this to losing a limb, the body adjusts to compensate, the family dynamic shifts when someone dies, and divorce happened to be that shift (87).
Martini, C., & Martini, O. (2010). Bitter medicine: A graphic memoir of mental illness. Calgary: Freehand Books
