The Healing Process in Marge Piercy’s Novel Woman on the Edge of Time

Abstract

 Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) is considered as a utopian science fiction novel which also has concerns about feminism. Marge Piercy (1936- ), who was initially a poet then a novelist, was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1936. The main character in the novel Connie Ramos is a Mexican-American woman who is confined in a mental hospital. She is considered as mentally sick, which is an unjust treatment to her. On the other hand, Connie can communicate telepathically with the future world of Mattapoisett in 2137 via Luciente. In order to understand the unjust treatments in the protagonist Connie’s world and compare the health system in both societies, it is the author’s intention to analyze the healing process in the Woman on the Edge of Time , both in Mattapoisett and the protagonist Connie Ramos’ world. Thus, the author argues that in order to stay healthy in personal and societal level, one needs to live a holistic and egalitarian life similar to Mattapoisett, which is the antithesis of Connie’s capitalist, greedy, and conformist world. The healing process includes the health system in both societies: the asylums, hospitals, and psychiatric institutions in general. In order to analyze and compare the healing process and the health system in both societies, it will be important to look through the dynamics and norms of the society.