Words on Bathroom Walls

How does Words on Bathroom Walls want to change its readers’ views of mental illness? What strategies does it use to accomplish this goal? Consider character, tone, structure, and other elements from the novel in your answer.

Why does Walton write the novel through Adam’s first-person journal entries?

Words on Bathroom Walls often compares how people with mental illness and people without mental illness process the worlds. Pick three moments where Adam’s schizophrenia mirrors something a neurotypical brain does. Is the novel’s comparison convincing? Why or why not?

Adam and Maya conclude that Rebecca is a reflection of Adam. How do Adam and Rebecca’s thoughts and actions support or deny this idea?

Why does Adam share his sexual encounters with Maya in his therapy notebook? Are these details important for his therapy? Why or why not?

Why does Walton include the scene where Adam hallucinates Maya? Why aren’t there scenes of Adam hallucinating anyone else he knows?

Consider the concept of beauty in the novel. What do different characters consider beautiful and why? What do their ideas reveal about them as people?

Explore Adam’s relationship with therapy. What makes therapy useful or not useful for him and when?