Humans, in general, are relatively destructive creatures. Since the dawn of man, bloodshed is common. War is, by definition, a human creation. However, humans rationalize war with more noble ideals: courage, pride, etc. Nations raise their warriors up as heroes, and in some cases, treat them like gods; Samurai, Aztec, Gladiator, Marine. All warriors from different times and all wielding different weapons. But all have one core thing in common. All are murderers. What sets these men apart from criminals? Is it a cause? Does fighting for a country forgive the many families left without a loved one? The answer to these questions is simply a matter of human emotion. Like most humans, most of these warriors had empathy for their opponents …show more content…
In fact, most possess an extremely charismatic way of dealing with others. “In addition to their aggression and violence, psychopaths are thought to be chronic deceivers, often lying for instrumental reasons such as to escape punishment” (Porter 2006). Psychopathy is often accompanied by pathological lying, in which the subject deceives many others for no obvious reason. However, this does not discredit the number of liars who use deception as a form of allure, in which trust is built. As a result, the lies can vary from what the person did on an afternoon to what the person does for a living. Minor “white lies” can quickly change into larger ones, leading the victim to question everything. This manipulation, coupled with the psychopath 's charismatic personality, is key in how cult leaders gain a steady …show more content…
This brings the character on screen to life and enables a deeper suspension of disbelief. Naturally, the characters can be studied more deeply and in some cases, these characters can be psychologically diagnosed, both villain and hero alike. In perhaps one of the most shocking displays of psychopathy in film, Anton Chigurh shows how dark a psychopath 's mind can delve. In the 2007 Coen Brother 's film, No Country for Old Men based on a book by Cormac MacCarthy, Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon the remnants of a drug deal gone wrong. He finds and takes two million dollars, which brings psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh after him to recover the money. Chigurh is a textbook example of a psychopath, killing any and all that get in his way with no
Throughout history, war has been the catalyst that has compelled otherwise-ordinary people to discard, at least for its duration, their longstanding beliefs about the immorality of killing their fellow human beings. In sum, during periods of war, people’s views about killing others are fundamentally transformed from abhorrence to glorification due in large part to the decisions that are made by their political leaders. In this regard, McMahan points out that, “As soon as conditions arise to which the word ‘war’ can be applied, our scruples vanish and killing people no longer seems a horrifying crime but becomes instead a glorious achievement” (vii). Therefore, McMahan argues that the transformation of mainstream views about the morality of killing during times of war are misguided and flawed since they have been based on the traditional view that different moral principles somehow apply in these circumstances. This traditional view about a just war presupposes the morality of the decision to go to war on the part of political leaders in the first place and the need to suspend traditional views about the morality of killing based on this
“How nice- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive” (Vonnegut 181).
In the novel All quiet on the western front by Erich Maria Remarque one of the major themes he illustrates is the effects of war on a soldier 's humanity. Paul the protagonist is a German soldier who is forced into war with his comrades that go through dehumanizing violence. War is a very horrid situation that causes soldiers like Paul to lose their innocence by stripping them from happiness and joy in life. The symbols Remarque uses to enhance this theme is Paul 's books and the potato pancakes to depict the great scar war has seared on him taking all his connections to life. Through these symbols they deepen the theme by visually depicting war’s impact on Paul. Paul’s books represent the shadow war that is casted upon Paul and his loss of innocence. This symbol helps the theme by depicting how the war locked his heart to old values by taking his innocence. The last symbol that helps the theme are the potato pancakes. The potato pancakes symbolize love and sacrifice by Paul’s mother that reveal Paul emotional state damaged by the war with his lack of happiness and gratitude.
By abandoning their humanity and relying completely on their instinct for survival, they are left with a sense of apathy. Dehumanizing their enemies enables them to murder with ease, and even with a sense of pride in their work. Without suppressing their humanity and abandoning their morals, their mental health would have sustained significant damage from their traumatic experiences. Devaluing the lives of their enemies and their emotions allows soldiers to cope with the tragic horrors they face on the battlefield every
Sociopaths are prevalent among society, and some researchers, like Martha Stout, claim that one out of every twenty-five people is a sociopath. However, this statistic is incorrect. This statistic is based on the assumption that sociopaths and psychopaths are the same people—which is untrue. While the sociopathic and psychopathic traits overlap, sociopaths differ in that they are obviously nervous and agitated, unable to create the illusions that psychopaths are so proud of. They live on the fringes of society, uneducated and unable to keep a steady job. Psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are suave and able to maintain an illusion of conformity and maintain relationships on a superficial level. Both, however, are dominantly male, tend to disregard the rights and social mores of others, and have a tendency display violent and disruptive outbursts without remorse. Unlike psychopaths, who completely lack remorse and the ability to love, sociopaths may attach themselves to certain people, though they still remain contemptuous of the rest of humanity (7).
Walsh, Y., Russell, R. J. H., & Wells, P. A. (1995). THE PERSONALITY OF EX-CULT MEMBERS. Pergamon, 19(3), 339–344.
guilt, greed, betrayal, and murder are no strangers. In this story an honorable warrior and
For many years, cult leaders always had a psychological hold on their followers' minds. Whether it was to kill other people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a means of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling God's plan. Because cult leaders are powerful through psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldn't normally do in their right state of mind.
I was reading threads on Reddit the other day about multiple serial killer cases and I always questioned myself, “Why would someone do this? Are they even human?” It is fascinating when these characters are presented in movies since we get to understand their backgrounds sometimes, but in the real world, not so much. Movies that include these type of qualities help us try to sympathise and understand the complications going on behind an
In the novel No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, the increased brutality and violence along the Texas-Mexico border leads to various moral conflicts among the citizens as well as authority figures. Because of this ominous presence, the characters, especially the older men, are forced to combat such violence and brutality, with varying degrees of success. Although experience and ethical obligations can allow for some success, it is ultimately achieved by those that are able to conform to such brutality rather than fight it. In the novel, Anton Chigurh represents the new era of men in Texas through his defiance of law and justice whereas Sheriff Bell stands for the old values of the country and Llewelyn Moss holds a position in the world between the two ultimatums. Throughout the novel, the drastic societal alterations affect characters differently depending on their moral values and physical capabilities thus revealing how the country has become too violent and brutal for the men who rely on justice
Are psychopaths like Alice, “mad or bad?” (page 21). The question whether psychopaths are mentally ill or just a bad seed has caused much debate. Dr. Hare explains that the problem is not only labeling them mad or bad, but who deals with them. “Does the treatment or control of the psychopath rightly fall to mental health professionals or to the correctional system?” (page 21). Not only are professionals confused on how to classify psychopaths, but the media also creates confusion. Psychopath means mental illness and the media uses the word to classify someone as, “insane or crazy”, (page 22). Dr. Hare explains that even though psychopaths, “cannot be understood in terms of traditional views of mental illness”, they, “are not disoriented or out of touch with reality, nor do they experience the delusions, hallucinations, or intense subjective distress that characterize most other mental disorders…psychopaths are rational and aware of what they are doing and why.” (page 22). Most professionals use the term psychopath and sociopath as one in the same. Since DSM-III, antisocial personality disorder has been used in place of psychopath and sociopath. Philippe Pinel was the first psychiatrist describe a psychopath and Harvey Cleckley was one of the first successful publish a book describing a psychopath to the general public . Pinel used the term, “insanity without delirium”, (page 25). Cleckley wrote The Mask of Sanity, which influenced researchers in North America. Dr. Robert Hare explained that WWII was the first time clinicians felt a need to diagnosis people with psychopathy. Due to the draft, there was a need to weed out the people could disrupt or harm the military structure. Dr. Robert Hare realized how hard it was to identify a true psychopaths from rule breakers and developed the Psychopathy Checklist. This checklist is used world wide to help clinicians identify true
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
Psychopathy is a personality disorder whose core diagnostic features include increased fearlessness, shallow affect, callousness, and poor behavioral inhibition. The actions of psychopaths often come at a large cost to society and its citizens, and their empathetic deficit is one of the reasons psychopaths can be so efficiently destructive in many people’s lives. The importance of understanding this deficit cannot be over-asserted. If psychopathic empathetic deficit can be understood, treatment would likely not only expand in variety but in effectiveness. Thus, this research may provide a possible remedy to a costly societal problem due not only the actions of criminal psychopaths but criminal offenders in general . However, the neural mechanism behind this empathetic deficit is still poorly understood. One common hypothesis to explain empathetic deficit is an inability to process emotional stimuli, especially expressive faces, in psychopaths.
When Ronson wraps up his work in The Psychopath Test, a novel, he creates a theme of paranoia as he ventured into an industry of madness. He establishes his work’s meaning that any individual may appear normal, abnormal, or be a psychopath within. In other words, his theme follows the idea that life can be full of deceiving people. In order to convey his theme, he used four significant characters. They include himself as the narrator, David Shayler with Rachel North, and Robert Hare. These characters not only emphasize Ronson’s theme, but also help establish the purpose of his theme, which is to showcase that madness can be anywhere.
...r the reader to notice the parallels between them and the differences from everyone else. He also does this so that we can see the contribution it has on the characters. The madness of each individual is not itself realistic, but the idea that death, grievance, and revenge can drive someone to do things that seem to be mad or make them do things out of their nature.