Deborah Jack
ENGL 3850-02N
Supernatural Lit
Dr. Coats
14 April, 1998
Can't Talk To a Psycho Like A Normal Human Being
or "Oh, Mother!"...brought to you by Clorox
Whew! I have now read this book about eight times. I started this in January, when I bought the book and immediately read it "just to get it over with" so I wouldn't have nightmares about it. I shouldn't have worried. It didn't give me nightmares and I keep coming back to it when I want a quick read of something. I do agree with Kindra on one point, however. I would loooove to go back in time to the opening night and watch everybody freak out at the end. I must admit, I felt only a little sympathetic towards the novel Norman as opposed to the movie Norman.
The movie Norman was thin with worry and had those beautiful sad eyes that you were shocked to see twisted with anger, rage and cunning cruelty at the end. But this Norman was fat and full of anger that often exploded out of control around even Mother. He read books about the occult and felt superior to everyone else. He was not a very sympathetic character all of the time. But then again, neither were his two victims.
Mary Crane stole the money that was entrusted to her because she was frustrated with her job. Forty thousand dollars...I personally would have taken maybe ten thousand and left the rest on his desk. At any rate, when she meets Norman she makes a snap judgement about his position in life. It is a very cruel judgement, though it is correct. At dinner, she tries to interfere with the structure of Norman's life...and gets her head chewed off when Norman snaps at her. After she returns to her room, she thinks maybe she'll go back to Dallas and restore the money, not because she feels guilty, but because she realizes she probably will not get away with it without being questioned. Her snap decisions and quick-to-judge attitude are her downfall. She lost her head in the heat of the moment and ends up losing her head-- literally.
Milton Arbogast, the inspector for the insurance company, is an even less sympathetic character. He, too, makes snap judgements about people. He crashes through the motions of an investigation like a raging bull, never pausing to think about how others are affected by his manner and methods. He bullies Mary's sister Lila and Mary's fiance' Sam to get at his version of the truth. His brash mannerisms set Norman off, and his pushing to see Mother drags Norman over the edge of his razor thin sanity.
The way I saw Anthony Perkins as Norman is totally different from how I see this Norman Bates. The movie Norman might possibly be rehabilitated, but this Norman cannot. I see him as a Brown Recluse spider: Leave him alone and he won't bother you at all. Poke around his nest, though, and his bite will kill you before you even see him.