Daisy Character Analysis in Girl, Interrupted

A “seasonal visitor” to McLean, Daisy checks herself into the ward at Thanksgiving each year and leaves just before Christmas. Combative, cagey, and vulgar, Daisy is also notable because her father brings her a whole rotisserie chicken every few days. Lisa, desperate to know what is up with Daisy, her father, and the chickens, hoards laxatives—which Daisy demands from the nurses daily but can never get enough of—and exchanges them for access to Daisy’s room. Lisa reports back to the other girls that Daisy has stashed rows of whole chicken carcasses beneath her bed, and uses the laxatives to help her pass the enormous amounts of poultry she consumes. One May, the girls on the ward are called to a special meeting, at which they are informed that Daisy has committed suicide—on her birthday, in the brand-new apartment her father recently purchased for her.

Daisy Character Timeline in Girl, Interrupted

The timeline below shows where the character Daisy appears in Girl, Interrupted. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Daisy, Kaysen writes, was a “seasonal event” at McLean. She came to the hospital every year... (full context)

Twice a week, Daisy’s father brings her a whole roasted chicken wrapped in aluminum foil, and Daisy “fondle[s]” the... (full context)

Nobody on the ward has ever been inside Daisy’s room, but Lisa is determined to get in, and tells Susanna that she has a... (full context)

Lisa enters Daisy’s room after offering Daisy the laxatives, while Georgina and Susanna watch from down the hall.... (full context)

Georgina asks Lisa why Daisy does this, but Lisa answers that she doesn’t know. Polly asks about the laxatives, and... (full context)

Later that week, Daisy announces boastfully that her father has purchased an apartment for her for Christmas. Lisa gossips... (full context)

...girls are called to a special Hall Meeting, in which the head nurse announces that Daisy committed suicide the previous day in her new apartment. The girls clamor for details, but... (full context)

...beautiful spring day on the day of one ice-cream outing. It is the week after Daisy’s suicide, and Susanna expects the group has been brought on such an outing to distract... (full context)

Susanna, Lisa, and Daisy are sitting in their usual spot by the nurses’ station, sharing a cigarette. Lisa complains... (full context)

...feel better about things. Susanna was never seriously suicidal, she maintains, but for someone like Daisy, she wonders if suicide is indeed a “premature” death. She doesn’t believe Daisy should have... (full context)