The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness

Marvin Schilling is Lori’s father and a highly-intelligent, exacting man who pulled himself out of poverty, and, through education, smarts, and persistence, was able to provide his wife and family with a great degree of financial privilege and stability. Throughout the book, we see how his demands upon Lori contribute quietly and subtly to Lori’s condition. Her sense of pride and identity is largely derived from her parents’ perceptions of her, and Marvin follows the gendered standard of being the harsher and more demanding parent than Nancy. Importantly, we also see Marvin adjust his parenting approach to his younger sons after the onset of Lori’s illness out of a sense of guilt about the ways his expectations of his daughter do, indeed, contribute to both her illness and her struggle with truly facing it. Too, his academic credentials in psychiatry ultimately and ironically end up serving as a barrier to his full understanding and embrace of Lori’s illness. At some points, he believes that his own expertise alone can save her, and also still bears a sense of stigma against schizophrenics and the chronically and seriously mentally ill. 

Nancy Schilling is Lori’s mother. Throughout the narrative, Nancy is depicted by Lori as a paragon of feminine virtue: she is trim, beautiful, and adept at the motherly tasks of nurturing her children and being an active member of their school communities. In keeping with her role as a woman, Nancy often defers to the choices and methods of her husband regarding Lori. She obeys his initial ban on speaking of Lori’s condition to their friends, and also agrees to Lori’s release into the care of her and Marvin, even though it occurs at a time when she actually feels that Lori would be better off staying in the hospital. Importantly, the genetic predisposition for schizophrenia emanates from Nancy’s line: both Nancy’s mother and her aunt, named Sylvia, appear to have suffered from schizophrenia. Nancy only truly pieces together these facts after recognizing her own mother and aunt in Lori’s condition. This is an important insight that leads to both a greater breadth of understanding of Lori’s condition and carries with it the looming threat that Lori’s younger siblings will also develop the illness. Through this depiction, we see Nancy’s deep care and her insight. 

Dr. Jane Doller is the administrator of Lori’s case at 3 South, as well as her personal psychiatrist. Dr. Doller’s “soft” appearance contrasts with the “angular […] professionals” that Lori has previously experienced from her psychiatric teams. Importantly, this difference in Dr. Doller’s appearance and manner plays a key role that creates space for Lori to be open to the characteristically and qualitatively different treatment approach that 3 South implements. Dr. Doller’s soft, nurturing (yet still firm) feminine presence helps to spark Lori’s insight that Lori works better with women. Too, perhaps Dr. Doller’s more chubby appearance allows Lori to feel a degree of comfort; without the jealousy and rage that attends to her loss of her own figure, she enjoys the absence of that particular barrier and better receives the help and care of Dr. Doller. We also see Dr. Doller become deeply (although not inappropriately) invested in Lori’s care and recovery. When Dr. Fischer must leave, and Lori is driven to tears by that fact in a session with Dr. Doller, she looks up to see that Dr. Doller’s own eyes have filled up with tears. This is a stark contrast to the completely cold, scientific, and medical approach with which she has largely been treated prior to her arrival at 3 South and it is, perhaps, a key aspect of why the treatment at 3 South worked for Lori.