Johnny Panic is the title character from Sylvia Plath’s Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, which never actually appears in the tale. The book is a collection of 13 short stories, including the title story, posthumously published in 1977. To some, it served as an inspiration, such as the band Tears For Fears, who named a song after it. In contrast to others, it became a means of taking a look into the beloved writer’s mind, specifically with the help of the character Johnny Panic.
Author: Zofia Czarnecka
The story revolves around an unnamed woman, presumably Sylvia Plath herself, working as the assistant to the secretary in a city hospital’s outpatient clinic. She spends each day transcribing doctors’ analyses; however, on the side, she dedicates herself to Johnny Panic, writing down dreams into a compilation that she calls her bible.
Although Johnny Panic is frequently mentioned throughout the story, he never takes an active role in the events that unfold. His character remains unexplained, which is surprising given that he is the central focus of the narrative. The main character, whom I will refer to as Sylvia, is captivated by the act of writing down dreams that are dictated to her by Johnny Panic. She notes that it can be more challenging to uncover the dreams of certain psychiatric patients compared to others. Nevertheless, she consistently manages to access these dreams by focusing on her belief that she will see them rather than on the dreams themselves. The difficulty in accessing these dreams varies based on the patients’ mental states—she even mentions a man with severe germaphobia who was cured by none other than Johnny Panic.
This character serves as a metaphorical representation of Sylvia Plath’s mental state, embodying both a God and a Devil simultaneously. Plath describes him as having loyal followers and priests, suggesting that Johnny Panic holds a position of higher status, further emphasized by her referring to her collection as a bible, which carries religious connotations. At the same time, Johnny represents her biggest enemy, symbolizing her depression, fears, and captor. Although Sylvia desperately wishes to escape him, she also finds comfort in his presence, creating a complex relationship that mirrors how some individuals cope with severe mental health disorders.
At one point, the main character describes a dream where she hovers above a vast lake, with corpses drifting on the surface, snakes wriggling in the water, and embryos sealed in glass jars. According to Jennifer Dobson, this lake symbolizes hell and the darkness within her. Here lie the darkest dreams, and Sylvia is on the verge of crossing the surface. The small particles of dirt floating in the water represent her fears, insecurities from daily life, and anxiety. This is the origin of Johnny Panic. Sylvia mentions that if she stares into the lake for too long, she could find herself in a soft-padded room, likely alluding to a mental institution. Perhaps the lake symbolizes death itself, explaining why she continues to hover over it without touching the water and how she drives herself insane by staring at it.
Sylvia meticulously plans to spend the night at the clinic, dedicating her time to recording her dreams. She prepares to stay awake for four nights, eating soups from thermoses and only changing her sweater, all while focusing on documenting her dreams. This illustrates the extent of Johnny Panic’s influence over her mind, trapping her in a chamber of insanity and preventing her from relaxing or seeking help. At another point in the story, Sylvia discusses how her mother played a role in the birth of Johnny Panic, likely referring to her mother’s vocal opinions about Sylvia’s choices in career and relationships.
The ending is very mysterious, and it is unsure whether those events happened or if the main character fell into madness, calling out to Johnny. Perhaps, the moment she got caught working away at her bible by the clinic director, she touched or maybe even crossed the surface of the water, succumbing to her mental illness. Or maybe the shock treatments she received are a metaphor for the last pain she needs to feel before she will finally be free, which could mean death.
Sylvia Plath committed suicide on February 11, 1963, at the age of 30. She struggled with mental disorders throughout her life, which she documented in her diaries and semi-autobiographical stories. For her, writing served as a form of therapy, while for readers, it offered a chance to glimpse into the mind of this confessionalist author. The character of Johnny Panic may never be fully explained, leaving it open to the reader’s interpretation.
Cover image by: johnNaturePhotos – Pixabay
Edited by: Ieva Stalauskaite, Johanna Larsson Krausová
