What Is Norman Bate's Identity Disorder

JOURNAL 1 Date: November 18, 2015
Cindy Pages This Week: 208 Pages This Quarter: 208

I am reading Psycho by Robert Bloch and I have finished the book. This book is about Norman Bates who suffers from an identity disorder causing him to become his mother, Norma. In this journal I will be characterizing and questioning.

G: Throughout the story, Norman Bate’s identity disorder caused him to displayed characteristics of two very different people.
Y: Norman Bates
R: Introverted
R: Prone to homicidal ideation
Y: Norma Bates
R: High-strung
R: Possessive
R: Hypocrite

Throughout the story, Norman Bates displays characteristics of two very different people because of his identity disorder. When Norman was himself, he was
His introverted and reserved character was developed for several reasons. He was brought up in a very sheltered life, and the only other person he knew was his mother, Norma, until his late twenties. He described his home as a place where everything was orderly and the outside as the place where “the changes took place. And most of those changes held a potential threat” (Bloch 3). His lifestyle led him to become prone to homicidal ideation. When Norman was introduced, he was reading a book about the Incas and was charmed by their torture methods. He often thought about performing their rituals on his mother. Many of Norman’s attributes are enhanced and affected due to his mother’s personality. When Norman was Norma, all of her attributes passed on to him causing him to become the high-strung, possessive hypocrite as she was. Norma’s high-strung personality rendered her quick to temper. She was an overbearing and verbally abusive mother who constantly harasses Norman into following her standards. Norma was also possessive. Norman
There are many textual clues that suggest that Norman killed his mother out of anger and jealousy. Norman felt that Norma was a hypocrite for preaching to him to not ever be in love. His mother spent much of her life implementing unreasonable standards and rules onto Norman only to fall in love. Norma also focused more on Joe, a man who Norman disliked. Norman described his hatred as “so great he can't talk about the man without flying into a rage. ” (Bloch 170). As their relationship progressed, Norman sanity started falling apart. This build up of anger and jealousy eventually resulted in Norman losing control of himself and killing his mother and Joe. This relates to why Norman developed Norma’s personality. He was unable to bear the loss of his mother. He realized he killed his own mother. He depended on her and she was arguably the only person he’s ever known. Norman felt the need to keep Norma alive be pretending to be her. His actions after her death include mummifying her corpse and speaking to her as if she were still alive. He speaks to himself in her voice and dresses himself in her clothes. In his own twisted mind, he becomes his mother in order to escape the guilt. “They knew, at the time, that he was hysterical from shock and excitement. What they didn't know is that while writing the note, he'd changed. Apparently, now that it