The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty Summary

Written in an enigmatic second person view, The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida, chronicles the plight of a 33-year old American women who has lost her literal identity. She is in the midst of an ugly divorce, has been betrayed by her family, lost her job and is left hopeless and helpless towards her future. The narration in second person sheds light on her mental and psychological state. One can conclude through the criterion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), that following a life full of traumatic events, she is suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder with dissociative symptoms.
According to the DSM-IV, the characteristics of PTSD include “a stressor, intrusion symptoms, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, alterations in arousal and reactivity, and duration of symptoms for over a month.” PTSD with dissociative symptoms also exhibits either depersonalization or
In the beginning of the novel, the protagonist takes out her passport to fill out a passport information form. The form asks for her place of birth, passport number and nationality. After her passport was stolen, she does not ask for that information back to take with her to the embassy. That information could have proved to be valuable. This is a reckless decision that she has made. In addition to that, the decisions to keep giving false names and to actually use another person’s credit cards rather than to keep on attempting to find a sensible way to figure out a means of survival is something that the average person would not do. The nameless protagonist is so affected by trauma and stress and deprivation of sleep that she gives in to the behavior that later on becomes her alter ego. These alterations in arousal and reactivity affirm the unnamed protagonist’s potential PTSD