Philosophy, Intercourse, and Suicide: Language in a Suicide Diary with Literary Overtones

This study analyzes patterns of emotional tone and word usage in Diary of a Suicide, a 21,000-word document written by W. E. Baker in 1912-1913 that contains extensive literary, political, and philosophical references. The frequency of diary entries decreased over time, a pattern likely associated with depression and demotivation. Sentiment analysis using the Dictionary of Affect in Language indicated unusually high proportions of both Sad and Pleasant words, reflecting a combination of depressed and paradoxically positive emotional tones previously observed in suicide-related writings. Linguistic analysis showed that the diarist overused first-person singular pronouns and underused second- and third-person pronouns, suggesting strong self-focus. He also avoided many common English function words and employed long, complex sentences. The most overused words relative to everyday English were philosophy, intercourse, and suicide. Overall, the diary’s language exhibits characteristics typical of both literary writing and documents associated with suicide.