use institutional settings to critique the penal system and the psychological treatment of inmates, often presenting "factual arguments" through fictionalized trauma. University of Florida The "Talking Cure"

The defining trait of the Asylum Rebel is the refusal to accept the diagnosis imposed by the institution. In psychological terms, this is a battle over "reality testing."

The cold, clinical walls of the Asylum. The Subject: Rhyder—the "Rebel" who refuses to be broken.