Norman Bates In Alfred Hitchcock's Film Psycho

The film Psycho (1960) was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and portrays Norman Bates, a character isolated from society. Norman has an interest in taxidermy and shares an unnaturally close relationship with his mother. He is diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (DID), which was known as multiple personality disorder in the past. Those suffering from DID have two or more distinct personalities that are also called sub personalities, wherein each personality features a unique set of memories, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions (Comer, 2016). Throughout the film, each of Norman’s sub personalities takes center stage and dominate his functioning. He uses his own recessive personality and his mother’s primary persona.
DID is thought to result

from a lifetime of excessive repression (Comer, 2016). Psychodynamic theorists believe that the continuous use of repression is motivated by traumatic childhood events, particularly abusive parenting (Comer, 2016). In Norman’s case, he had murdered his mother and her partner 10 years prior because she was about to wed again. Norman was jealous and afraid of losing her attention because she was the only woman he had ever known who had loved him. Feeling guilty and confused about his inhumane act, he brought his mother’s corpse back into the house and used taxidermy skills to semi-preserve the body. One can see that Norman suffers from DID and uses his illness as a coping tool for the unusually traumatic experience of taking his mother’s life. In addition to keeping his mother “alive” in this way, he mentally and physically impersonates her behavior and even walks inside the house wearing her dress and a wig.
A sign of deviant behavior that Norman demonstrated in the film is in a scene where he spies on a young woman through a peep hole in the adjoining wall. As a result, he becomes aroused to such a degree that it turns into anger and he storms out of the Bates Motel, however, he does invite the young woman to join him for supper in his office later. The first sign that he has become potentially dangerous is when he goes to hand the young woman, her room key. He selects one of the keys and then reconsiders and hands her a different key. With that, one can see plots and ideas forming in Norman’s head. Although the exact details about Norman’s childhood were not revealed, one can see that he is certainly distressed and dysfunctional from the way he impersonates his mother. Norman grew up with a very controlling and overbearing mother.
Likewise, it appears that his mother was not only verbally abusive, but also constantly made him feel guilty for his decisions. Owing to his mother’s domineering personality, Norman also became dysfunctional because he never got a chance to socialize with others or to express his sexual desires in a healthy way. He does not know what life really is and lacks empathy; living beings are just objects to him. For instance, besides keeping his mother’s last remains inside the house, Norman also shows an interest in taxidermy - which is the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals with life like effect (Breslow, 2008). In one of the scenes at the parlor, the young woman sits down and acknowledges Norman’s taxidermy skills, but he denies that and says that he does not know anything about birds. From his attitude and body language, one can somehow interpret that his hobby is not just about stuffing birds but killing people as well. Keeping trophies or mementos of his work may be a way of coping with death for him.
During supper, the young woman questions Norman about his mother, as she had earlier heard him talking to his mother while she was in her cabin. He becomes aroused and was unable to repress his mother’s personality. So, he returns back home, dresses up like his mother and in a state of fugue, enters the young woman’s cabin, and kills her with a kitchen knife while she was taking a shower. His “mother” (sub personality) then returns to the house and removes the blood-stained clothes. “Norman” returns and as he is usually predisposed to being shocked and anxious about what just happened, he rushes down to the cabin and discovers the young woman’s body slumped over in the bathtub. He places the young woman’s body along with her possessions in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp. After that, he returns to the house and thoroughly cleans the lavatory. The precipitant is the killing of his mother that took place 10 years prior. So, he tries very hard to protect and preserve his mother’s identity. Therefore, Norman kills one more person that came after him, but eventually he was caught by others and taken down to the police station. He, however, does not receive any treatment for his mental disorder. The last scene shows Norman secluded in a cell with his mother’s persona having completely taken over his mind. In a strict and controlling tone, his mother’s voice echoes random thoughts as the film fades out to black.
Many clinicians consider DID to be quite rare, however, it appears to be more common than one would think. Most cases of DID are diagnosed either during late adolescence or early childhood. The symptoms usually begin in early childhood after episodes of physical abuse (often sexual abuse) or trauma (Comer, 2016). Treating individuals with DID may be difficult because the suffering individual usually lacks insight into their disorder, i.e. they are unaware of their condition and are usually secretive by nature. It is very likely that they will not seek professional help. So, they continue with their daily routines without noticing that they are switching from one personality to another. In Norman’s case, his symptoms were obvious and easily observable owing to his troublesome childhood, frequent switching of personalities, distorted thinking, strange facial expressions, as well as cross dressing.
Since treatment was not offered to Norman, I believe he would have continued to murder those that crossed his path.

He may also have been unable to obtain employment, continued to have poor relationship with others, or consumed alcohol and other substances (Dell, 2006). If his symptoms had continued any longer he may have caused harm to himself. Psychotherapy is used as the main treatment for individuals with DID in order to improve their relationship with others, prevent crises, and to experience troublesome feelings that they are uncomfortable in embracing (Comer, 2016). Hypnosis is occasionally used for patients presenting with DID. In a typical hypnosis session, the therapist introduces the patient’s various sub personalities to one another (Comer, 2016). The main goal of therapy is to merge the different subpersonalities into a single, integrated identity and thereby relieve the

symptoms.
Interestingly, the film Psycho is famous for its shower scene where Norman switches to his mother’s personality and lunges at the young woman multiple times with a kitchen knife until she’s no longer alive. Norman does not have the typical villain look as one would usually expect to see in today’s upcoming horror movies. Instead, he appears very much like the boy next door; timid, introverted, and mysterious. From this movie, I learned that individuals with DID are somewhat aware of the switching of their sub personalities and of some of their shocking actions. Most individuals with DID experience some degree of amnesia towards their switching, however, many can remain co-conscious with at least two of their alters (Dell, 2006). Co-Consciousness is the ability for two or more alters to remain aware of each other or the outside world at the same time.
The first time I watched this black and white film, I looked for clues such as camera angles, symbolism and shadows that would showcase Norman’s personality as well as of the other characters. Throughout the film, Norman was surrounded by pictures and his stuffed birds of prey. Most of the pictures were in a square or rectangular frame, meaning that he is surrounded by sharp edges. The shadows cast from the birds of prey suggest that Norman is more of an intimidating and perhaps even aggressive character.
He was viewed from a low camera angle while defending his mother, making him appear quite frightening and dangerous.

One can sense his underlying annoyance from that scene and begin to worry for the young woman’s safety. The fear is further heightened towards the end of the scene when the young woman stands up to leave. On the wall behind her is a stuffed raven – a symbol of death. The film director’s angle of the raven’s sharp beak points directly towards the young woman’s neck as if singling her out for death. In conclusion, I can say that my perception of individuals with DID has changed because not all individuals with this disorder are so dangerous or show such loud

symptoms.