‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is a novel that has influenced the young adult fiction genre. Seen by some as a modern classic, the story dives deep into the mind of an insecure and anxiety-laden teenager, Aza Holmes. Though many have criticized John Green’s works for having female stereotypes, many praised ‘Turtles All the Way Down‘ as it gave life to its protagonist. The book takes readers on Aza’s journey of self-discovery as she battles a mental illness, obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD.
John Green, author of ‘Turtles All the Way Down,’ stated there are many people whose mental illness gives them super-hero-like powers, but the opposite was the case for him. He said Aza has different symptoms from him as he wanted to feel comfortable writing her character without giving details about his OCD.
Turtles All the Way Down’s Influence On Literature
Though ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ has not impacted literature like other novels, it certainly has made a mark in young adult fiction literature. For a long time, most works from the genre were shallow, with unrealistic characters. However, John Green created characters with dimensionality, those whose existence was not solely for creating romance troupes.
For a long time, literature glorified mental illness. Many books give their characters super-hero-like powers and show how remarkable they are because of their disorders; this led to the rise of detective stories where the main characters solve impossible crime scenes and stories with super-intelligent characters.
John Green’s work takes the opposite route. He shows the grim reality of the majority of people suffering from mental disorders. His main character, Aza Holmes, is not exceptional. She is just an average girl whose world is upside down because she cannot focus on anything besides negative thoughts. John Green shows the raw thoughts Aza cannot turn off. He depicts how those thoughts, though irrational, affect Aza’s life.
Mental Illness
Mental illnesses and disorders are topics very few people have a deep understanding of. Their portrayal in TV shows and popular media has made people think they are some alien-like diseases that have almost no cure. However, John Green’s ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ brought a more nuanced approach. He showed how intricate mental illnesses are, and his almost-perfect portrayal of OCD shed light on the thought process of those who have it. John also showed that those with illnesses like OCD can live healthy and fulfilling lives with treatment.
Cultural Impact
The story of ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ has influenced pop culture positively, as it shows the nature of OCD and other mental illnesses like anxiety. The novel dives into the mind of a young teenage girl and portrays how she navigates with a mental illness. It shows how she fights against the dangerous thoughts wanting to overshadow her mind and how she loses to them but still fights back.
Though John Green’s work focused on Aza, he also fleshed out other characters. ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is unlike many young adult fiction novels that concentrate on the primary character. It takes the reader into the mind of other characters like Davis Pickett, Daisy Ramirez, and Ms. Holmes. The novel shows what it is like to live with someone with a mental illness. In the story, Aza’s anxiety and OCD make her feel like a burden whom everyone bears instead of like; this makes her think one of Daisy’s characters, Ayala, was made after her.
Adaptation
In December 2017, John Green announced that ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ was getting adapted into a film. Fox 2000 Pictures began development as they had done Green’s previous works, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ and ‘Paper Towns.‘ Rosianna Halse Rojas and John Green were the executive producers for the film.
In 2018, Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger became the screenwriters for the show. In 2019, Hannah Marks became the director. Though development ran smoothly, things came to a grinding halt when the Walt Disney Company acquired and closed Fox 2000 Pictures. New Line Cinema acquired the film’s distribution rights, and Max later purchased it.
Principal photography began on April 26, 2022, and ended in June. The movie is to air in 2025.
Comparison to John Green’s Previous Works
Though it was an incredible novel, ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ was not as emotionally devastating as ‘The Fault in Our Stars;’ this is normal because they focus on two different things. ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ was a sad story about the end of life of a young girl. ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ follows the life of a girl suffering from a disease. John avoided making his 2017 novel follow the tragic-ending troupe of his other stories. However, this led to an ending that was not very satisfying.
FAQs
Why does Turtles All the Way Down end weirdly?
‘Turtles All the Way Down’ has a tragic ending. In the last part of the novel, Aza Holmes reveals she wrote the story. Unfortunately, she did not win the fight against OCD, and though she had children, she was too sick to take care of them properly.
Is Turtles All the Way Down sad?
Though it is not as sad as ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ revealed a heart-wrenching detail in its ending. It showed that even with her struggle to win against anxiety and OCD, Aza never gained control over her mind. The novel had a sad tone, that it kept until the final words.
