The Defense Mechanism of the Character Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’S Psycho
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THE DEFENSE MECHANISM OF THE CHARACTER NORMAN BATES IN ROBERT BLOCH’S PSYCHO
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By LUVITA FREITAS MARTINS Student Number: 154214121
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2019
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE DEFENSE MECHANISM OF THE CHARACTER NORMAN BATES IN ROBERT BLOCH’S PSYCHO
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By LUVITA FREITAS MARTINS Student Number: 154214121
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2019
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
“Follow your dream like breaker.
Even if it breaks down, don’t ever run backward, never.
Because the dawn right before the sun rises is the darkest.”
-BTS (방탄소년단) – Tommorow
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For my beloved parents
my beloved brother
and my dearest friends
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, my biggest gratitude goes to Jesus Christ for His blessings and guidance throughout my whole life. My biggest gratitude also goes to Mother
Mary who always strengthens me to face the hardships.
My sincere gratitude goes to my thesis advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka,
M.Hum. who patiently helps and guides me throughout the making process of this thesis. My gratitude also goes to my co-advisor, Dr. G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.
Hum. who gives helpful advice and suggestions. I also would like to thank my
Academic Advisor Dr. B. Ria Lestari, M. Sc., my former Academic Advisor F. X.
Risang Baskara, M. Hum., and all the lecturers in English Letters for sharing and giving the precious knowledge and experiences.
My special gratitude goes to my parents and my brother who always support and encourage me in every condition. Thank you for being my biggest motivation to finish this thesis. I also would like to thank my dearest friends geng
Halu: Ayu, Bertha, Oriza, Sita, Yudea and Dysa for always supporting me and making my campus life more bearable. Last but not least, I would like to thank all my friends in English Mass Community (EMC) and all the people that are not be mentioned by name here. Thank you for the supports and the togetherness. I am really grateful for everything that you all have done for me. Thank you for making
‘the me’ now.
Luvita Freitas Martins
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ...... ii APPROVAL PAGE ...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ...... vi MOTTO PAGE ...... vii DEDICATION PAGE ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... x ABSTRACT ...... xii ABSTRAK ...... xiii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 3 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 3 D. Definition of Terms ...... 4
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE...... 5 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 5 B. Review of Related Theories ...... 10 1. Theory of Character and Characterization ...... 10 2. Theory of Conflict and Core Conflict ...... 12 3. Theory of Defense Mechanisms ...... 13 C. Theoretical Framework ...... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 18 A. Object of the Study ...... 19 B. Approach of the Study ...... 20 C. Method of the Study ...... 21
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS...... 22 A. The Characteristics of Norman Bates in Psycho ...... 22 1. Possessive ...... 23 2. Manipulative...... 24 3. Meticulous ...... 26 4. Perverted ...... 27 5. Murderous ...... 28 B. The Internal Conflicts of Norman Bates...... 30 1. Norman against His Sexual Desire ...... 30 2. Norman against His Obsession towards His Mother ...... 31 3. Norman against His Dependency on His Mother ...... 33
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C. The Defense Mechanism used by Norman Bates ...... 34 1. Repression ...... 34 2. Projection ...... 35 3. Rationalization ...... 37 4. Denial ...... 38 5. Identification ...... 39
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 43 REFERENCES ...... 45 APPENDIX ...... 47
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ABSTRACT
MARTINS, LUVITA FREITAS. (2019). The Defense Mechanism of the Character Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s Psycho. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
There are a lot of conflicts that one should face throughout his lifetime. In dealing with the conflicts, people often use defense mechanism in order to get rid of the anxiety or fear caused by the conflicts. Defense mechanism is a psychological strategy used to reduce anxiety or even avoid the unacceptable experiences. One of the examples of the defense mechanism is shown by Norman Bates, the main character in the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch. This novel is a story about Norman Bates, a psychopath who has to cope with a lot of conflicts against himself.
The objectives of this study are to find the characteristics of Norman Bates described in the story, the internal conflicts that Norman Bates has to face, and the types of defense mechanisms used by Norman Bates to face his conflicts. The theories applied in conducting this study are the theory of character and characterization, the theory of conflict and core conflicts, and theory of defense mechanism.
In this study, the researcher applies the psychoanalytic criticism. The method used is library research with primary and secondary sources. The primary source in this study is the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch. The secondary sources are taken from books, essays, journal articles, and internet sources.
The researcher has found that Norman Bates has several characteristics namely possessive, manipulative, meticulous, perverted, and murderous. Norman has to deal with internal conflicts. In order to cope with the conflicts between him and his sexual desire, Norman uses repression, projection, and rationalization. Besides, in coping with the conflict between himself and his dependency on his mother, Norman uses denial. Lastly, Norman uses identification in coping with the conflict between himself and his dependency and also his obsession toward his mother.
Keywords: defense mechanism, conflict, psycho
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ABSTRAK
MARTINS, LUVITA FREITAS. (2019). The Defense Mechanisms of the Character Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s Psycho. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Terdapat begitu banyak konflik yang harus dihadapi seseorang sepanjang hidupnya. Dalam menghadapi konflik yang muncul, beberapa orang menggunakan mekanisme pertahanan untuk menyingkirkan kegelisahan atau ketakutan yang disebabkan oleh konflik tersebut. Mekanisme pertahanan adalah strategi psikologis yang digunakan untuk mengurangi kegelisahan atau bahkan menghindari pengalaman yang tidak diinginkan. Salah satu contoh mekanisme pertahanan ditunjukkan oleh Norman Bates, karakter utama dari novel berjudul Psycho karya Robert Bloch. Novel ini berkisah tentang Norman Bates, seorang psikopat yang menghadapi banyak konflik melawan dirinya sendiri.
Tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini adalah untuk mencermati karakteristik dari Norman Bates yang dideskripsikan dalam cerita tersebut, masalah internal yang harus dihadapi Norman Bates dan tipe-tipe mekanisme pertahanan yang digunakan Norman Bates untuk menghadapi konfliknya. Teori-teori yang digunakan dalam menganalisis skripsi ini adalah teori penokohan, teori konflik dan konflik pokok dan teori mekanisme pertahanan.
Pada skripsi ini, peneliti menggunakan pendekatan psikoanalitik. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode studi pustaka dengan dua sumber. Sumber primer dalam skripsi ini adalah novel Psycho karya Robert Bloch. Sumber sekunder pada skripsi ini diambil dari beberapa buku, essai, jurnal dan internet.
Peneliti menemukan bahwa Norman Bates memiliki beberapa karakteristik yakni posesif, manipulatif, teliti, jahat dan kejam. Untuk mengatasi konflik antara dirinya dengan hasrat seksualnya, Norman menggunakan represi, proyeksi dan rasionalisasi. Selain itu, dalam menghadapi konflik antara dirinya dengan sifat ketergantungan pada ibunya, Norman menggunakan mekanisme penyangkalan. Yang terakhir, Norman menggunakan mekanisme identifikasi dalam menghadapi konflik antara dirinya dengan ketergantungan dan obsesinya terhadap ibunya sendiri.
Keywords: defense mechanism, conflict, psycho
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Conflict and problem are normal parts of one’s life. People constantly have to deal with the conflicts and problems that arise within themselves or those caused by external pressures. In dealing with the conflict and problem, people can feel anxious, guilty or threatening and etc. Therefore in order to protect themselves from the anxiety or guilt caused by the conflict and problem, people use the defense mechanism. Hogan, Johnson and Briggs argued that defense mechanisms are “usually defined more narrowly as mental processes that operate unconsciously to reduce some painful emotion” (1997, p. 543). There are various types of defense mechanism but all of them share two characteristics,
(1) they are denials or distortions of reality—necessary ones, but distortions nonetheless, and, (2) they operate unconsciously. We are unaware of them, which means that on the conscious level we hold distorted or unreal images of our world and ourselves (Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p. 58).
Defense mechanism occurs when “direct expression of the id impulse is unacceptable to the superego or dangerous in the real world” (Cloninger, 2004, p.
45). Defense mechanism is used for reducing the anxiety or guilt and making people feel better.
This study is focusing on the defense mechanism used by the main character, Norman Bates, in Robert Bloch’s Psycho. Robert Bloch is an American writer and he is best known for his horror, suspense and science fiction stories.
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One of his greatest works is Psycho which was published in 1959. Psycho is the story about Norman Bates, a psychopath who killed Mary Crane and detective
Arbogast. However, Norman accused his mother of murdering those two people.
At the end of the story, it is revealed that Norman killed both of them. Besides, he also had killed both his mother and his mother’s lover twenty years ago. In order to get rid of the guilt, he develops a split personality in which his mother becomes his alternate self. He takes his mother personality only when he commits the murders.
The researcher chooses the novel written by Robert Bloch entitled Psycho as the object of the study due to several reasons. The first reason is because of the main character of the story itself, Norman Bates, who suffers from personality disorder. At the end of the story, it is explained that Norman Bates suffers from
Dissociated Identity Disorder or formerly known as multiple personalities. Lahey
(2009) states that people with Dissociated Identity Disorder,
appear to shift abruptly from one “personality” to another˗˗as if more than one person were inhabiting the same body. Generally, the two or more personalities are quite different from one another (p. 485).
Norman Bates has three different personalities namely a little boy who is dominated by his mother, his mother, and Norman Bates himself. All these three personalities have different persona that appeared throughout the story. The second reason is because of the strange relationship between Norman Bates and his mother, Norma Bates. Throughout the story, it is shown that Norman never has a proper social life and his life is being centered to his mother. Growing up being strictly ruled by his mother turns him out to be someone who is obsessing
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over his own mother. This kind of relationship makes him become a psychopath and the murderer of his own mother and other people. Therefore, this study is focusing on finding the defense mechanism used by the main character Norman
Bates to face his conflicts. Moreover, the researcher focuses on finding the type of defense mechanisms used by Norman Bates that can be seen in the novel.
B. Problem Formulation
This study aims to answer the problems that are formulated as follows:
1. What are the characteristics of Norman Bates described in the story?
2. What are the internal conflicts faced by Norman Bates?
3. What are the types of defense mechanism used by Norman Bates to face his
conflicts?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to find the type of defense mechanisms used by the main character Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s Psycho. This goal is achieved by answering the three problems formulated above. Firstly, the researcher examines the characteristics of Norman Bates described throughout the story. Secondly, the researcher finds the internal conflicts that should be faced by Norman Bates.
Thirdly, the researcher finds the way the Norman Bates cope with the conflicts occur which reveal the use of the defense mechanism and finds the type of defense mechanisms used.
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D. Definition of Terms
Two terms that often being used in this study are defense mechanisms and psycho. These terms are explained in order to avoid misinterpretation. The first term is defense mechanism. The concept of defense mechanism is developed by
Sigmund Freud in the late 19th and early 20th century. Cramer defined defense mechanism as
Unconcious mental mechanism that are directed against both internal drive preassures and external preassures, especially those that treathen self- esteem or the sturcture of the self, as might occur when friends of family fail to be empathic or in some other way are “lost” to the individual. The function of the self-defense mechanism is twofold: to protect the individual from experiencing excessive anxiety, and to protect the integration of the self (2006, p. 7).
The second term is psycho. Psycho is the title of the novel used in this study. Psycho is the slang term of an individual with psychopathy or a psychopath. Cleckley defined psychopathy as “a disorder characterized in part by shallow emotional responses, lack of empathy, impulsivity, and an increased likelihood for antisocial behavior” (1941, p. 11).
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
There are several journal articles, dissertation and the undergraduate theses related to this study. The journal article, dissertation and the undergraduate theses are very useful for the researcher to understand in depth about the object of this study and the application of the type of defense mechanisms.
The first related study is the journal article by Merlyn Sneha Raj (2017) entitled “A Psychoanalytical Reading of Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s
Psycho”. This journal article focuses on analyzing the abnormal behavior of
Norman Bates using Sigmund Freud’s and Jacques Lacan’s theory of psychoanalysis. Raj finds out that
Norman Bates is not born a psycho but becomes one because of the environment he was exposed to as a child. His mother was all he had after his father deserted them. He is deeply affected when he learns that his mother, around whom his whole life was centered and whom he thought to be the only ‘moral woman he knew, has an extra marital affair with a man called Joe Considine (2017, p. 1634).
However, Norman’s obsession toward his mother leads him to commit murder because of his fears of losing his mother’s love and affection.
Besides, Raj states that the absence of a father figure in Norman’s life contributes to his psychotic nature since he fails to enter the symbolic order. It can be seen from
Norman never had the chance to shape his sexual identity since he had always been alienated from the outside world. This led to the confusion of his own sexual identity.... As a result, being unable to give vent to his
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sexual desires, he turned towards his mother. His world consisted only of his mother which turned into an obsession. He could not stand sharing her with anybody (2017, p. 1635).
By using Freud’s theory of personality, Raj also concludes that Norman’s superego or his moral center operates the most. Norman feels guilty after murdering his mother and start to initiate his split personality in order to release the feeling of guilt. This study is different from Raj’s study because this study focuses on finding the type of defense mechanism used by Norman Bates while
Raj’s study focuses on finding the reasons behind Norman’s abnormal behavior.
The second related study is an essay by Rebecca Spolander (2018) entitled
The Fear of Mrs. Bates: The use of Psychoanalytical Aspects, Anticipation and
Retrospection in Robert Bloch’s Psycho. This essay is focusing on psychoanalytical notions in Robert Bloch’s Psycho using Freud’s theory of personality and theory of repression as a defense mechanism, and Wolfgang Iser’s theory of reception.
Spolander explains about the house that Norman Bates lives in as a symbol of the structural model of Freud’s division of psyche of Norman Bates based on the previous statement by Slavoj Žižek in the documentary entitled “The Pervert’s
Guide to Cinema” (2006). Spolander argues that the first floor represents
Norman’s Superego and his mother as his superego because Norman has to live based on his mother’s rules and moral standards. The ground floor represents
Norman’s ego because when Norman is moving around the ground floor, Norman tends to behave like his normal personality and live his life as Norman without being dominated by his mother. Moreover, the cellar of the house is the symbol of
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his Id because it is the place where he hides his mother corpse so that people not discover and take her away from him.
Spolander argues that Norman has been controlled by his guilt toward his mother all of his life which makes him create his alternate personality as his mother. Norman transfers the dominance to the instinctive Id. However, this action of moving the Super-ego into the realm of the Id overpowers the influence on the Ego. It makes the identity of Norman’s alternate personality as his mother has taken over Norman’s identity. In this study, Spolander also analyse about repression as Norman’s defense mechanism. She states that
after Norman killed his mother, he could not accept his own actions, so he began to repress the feelings of guilt. When his mind repressed the murder, his mother’s personality manifested itself as a division of his personality (2018, p. 17).
Besides, Norman has also repressed his sexual desires throughout his life.
Spolanders argues that the idea of repression is used as a tool for making the readers feel sympathy for Norman Bates. This study is different from
Spolanders’s study because it focuses on finding the types of defense mechanism while Spolander’s study is focusing on the application of Freud’s theory of Id,
Ego and Superego through symbolism and also the effect of portraying the idea of repression as Norman’s defense mechanism to the readers’s feeling.
The third related study that is used is an undergraduate thesis written by
Ardian Setianto (2017) entitled Okonkwo’s Anxieties and Defense Mechanisms in
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. This study focuses on finding the Okonkwo’s anxiety and the defense mechanisms he uses to relieve anxieties he deals with.
Setianto applies psychoanalytical criticism and also several theories namely
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Murphy’s theory of character and characterization, theory of types of anxiety by
Larry and Daniel, and Freud’s theory of defense mechanism.
Setianto states that
The biggest burden that Okonkwo feels is his fear, his fear to become like his father and fear to be weak. This fear can be considered as main cause of Okonkwo’s defense mechanism and this was become stimulator and reason of all Okonkwo’s action in the novel (2017, p. 33).
He explains that Okonkwo’s first anxiety is his fear of being seen as a weak person and not accomplishing anything. Therefore, Okonkwo uses defense mechanisms namely repression by forgetting his father and all his failures, projection by working hard to be a success and getting acknowledgment from other people, and regression by acting less mature and throwing his temper without realizing it when he is under pressure and angry.
Okonkwo’s second anxiety is his fears toward his son’s failure and weakness leads him to use defense mechanisms namely displacement by being harsh and strict toward his son. Okonkwo’s third anxiety is his anxiety toward
Nwoye’s conversion to Christianity. This leads him to use reaction formation as his defense mechanism by blaming the church and missionaries and repression by forgetting his son because he feels betrayed by him. This study is different from
Setianto’s study in terms of the object of the study and the theory of defense mechanism used.
The fourth related study is an undergraduate thesis written by Connie Kris
Aviari (2018) entitled A Study on Conflicts and Defense Mechanisms in Haruki
Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore. This study focuses on finding out the conflicts and the defense mechanisms as the way the character, Kafka Tamura, deal with it.
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Aviari applies the psychoanalytical approach and also two theories which are the theory of Conflict and theory of Defense Mechanisms.
Aviari finds out that the character, Kafka Tamura, has to deal with his internal conflicts against his feeling because of his parents’ divorce, against his lack of trust his friends and to himself, against his sexual desire towards Miss
Saeki, against the thought of killing his father and against the feeling of not being loved back by Miss Saeki. Aviari states that Kafka’s defense mechanisms occur because of his fear to become like his father.
The biggest burden that Okonkwo feel is his fear, his fear to become like his father and fear to be weak. This fear can be considered as main cause of Okonkwo’s defense mechanism and this was become stimulator and reason of all Okonkwo’s action in the novel. His anxiety makes him unconsciously do some action to prevent his self-despair (Aviari, 2018, p. 33).
In order to deal with internal conflicts and to solve the problems, Kafka uses several types of defense mechanisms. Aviari finds out that Kafka performs repression, rationalization, projection, sublimation, and denial. The repression is shown when Kafka runs away from his home to restrain the sadness because of his parent’s divorce, to repress the hatred within himself and to avoid killing his own father. Kafka performs rationalization by making an excuse and assuming that his friends don’t like him and even hate him. Kafka uses projection by projecting his desire to the other character, Crow. Kafka performs sublimation by doing the physical exercise to shifts his mind from his unfulfilled sexual desire.
Kafka performs denial by avoiding the truth that he is not being loved back by
Miss Saeki. What makes this study is different from Aviari’s study is that the object of this study.
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B. Review of Related Theories
In order to analyze the object of this study, the researcher uses three theories which are the theory of character and characterization, the theory of conflict and core conflict, and theory of defense mechanism.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Characterization is the way the author conveys the characters and its personalities to the reader about “what sort of people they are, how he makes the reader get to know and understand them” (Murphy, 1972, p. 161). According to
Murphy (1972), there are several ways in which an author attempts to make his characters are understandable and come alive for his readers.
a. Personal Description
Murphy states that “the author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes” (1972, p. 161). The author directly describes the character such as his face, skin, body, and clothes or even the character’s personality.
b. Character as Seen by Another
Murphy states that “instead of describing a character directly the author
can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another” (1972, p. 162).
c. Speech
Murphy states that “the author can give us an insight into the character of
one of the person in the book through what that person says” (1972, p. 164).
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d. Reactions
Murphy states that “the author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events” (1972, p. 168). e. Conversation of Others
Murphy states that “the author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him” (1972, p. 167). f. Past Life
Murphy states that “by letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life the author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character” (1972, p. 166). g. Thoughts
Murphy states that “the author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about” (1972, p. 171). h. Direct Comment
Murphy states that “the author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly” (1972, p. 170). i. Mannerisms
Murphy states that “the author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character” (1972, p.
173).
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2. Theory of Conflict and Core Conflicts
According to Koesnosoebroto (1988) conflict itself can be physical, moral, psychological, intellectual, or spiritual contest between antagonistic forces. There are two types of conflict namely internal conflict and external conflict. Internal conflict is the conflict between the character and himself or in other words the conflict between aspects of personality. On the other hand, external conflict is the conflict between the character and the external forces such as another character, society, environment, God, etc. In this study, the researcher applies the theory of internal conflict because it is prominent to support further analysis.
Every destructive behavior or problem has a core conflict or core issue that is responsible for any emotional difficulties. In order to find out the conflict faced by the character, it is important to identify the factors that trigger the conflict to happen. A core conflict (or a core issue) is defined as “a psychological problem that is the underlying cause of some sort of recurring self-destructive behavior”
(Tyson, 2011, p. 84). The core issue is divided into several types include the following.
a. Fear of Abandonment
Fear of abandonment is people’s unwarranted nagging belief that their friends and loved ones are going to desert them (Physical abandonment) or don’t really care about them (emotional abandonment) (Tyson, 2011, pp. 84-85).
b. Fear of Intimacy
Fear of intimacy is the unwarranted but unshakeable and overpowering feeling that emotional closeness will seriously damage and destroy people, and
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therefore people must protect themselves by remaining at an emotional distance from others. This kind of fear may not keep people from making friends or falling in love but it keeps people from enjoying the kind of friendship and love that come with the ability to trust their own and another’s feeling (Tyson, 2011, p. 85).
c. Oedipal Fixation
An oedipal fixation (or complex) is a dysfunctional bond with a parent of the opposite sex that people do not outgrow and that does not permit them to mature into adult relationships with others (Tyson, 2011, p. 85).
d. Low Self-esteem
Low self-esteem is the unwarranted belief in which people believe that they are less worthy than other human beings and, therefore, they do not deserve attention, love or any other form of life’s rewards (Tyson, 2011, p. 84).
e. Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self
Insecurity is the inability of people to sustain a feeling of personal identity and a sense of knowing themselves which leads them to have a tendency to change the way they look or behave as they become involved with different individuals or groups (Tyson, 2011, p. 84).
3. Theory of Defense Mechanism
Defense mechanism is one of the most notably used by Sigmund Freud in his psychoanalytic theory. In order to have a better understanding about defense mechanism, it is required to understand the structure of personality. Freud introduced a three-part structural model of personality namely id, ego and superego during the 1920s. This division “help Freud to explain mental images
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according to their functions or purposes” (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 27). Freud believes that id, ego, and superego are often in conflict because each of them has a different primary goal. According to Freud, id is the reservoir for the instincts and libido, and it is related to the satisfaction of bodily needs (Schultz & Schultz,
2005, p. 54). The id operates in accordance with the pleasure principle which means the id functions to increase pleasure and avoid pain. The id has no awareness of reality and it is labeled by Freud as the primary-process thought because the id satisfies its needs only through reflex action and wish-fulfilling hallucinatory or fantasy experience (Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p. 55).
Ego is the rational master of the personality because it determines “the appropriate and socially acceptable times, places, and objects that will satisfy the id impulses” (Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p. 55). Ego serves both the id and reality which means that it constantly mediates and compromises between their conflicting demands. The ego tries “to restrain the id while at the same time serving it, perceiving and manipulating reality to relieve the tensions of the id impulses” (Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p. 56).
Superego is “a powerful and largely unconscious set of dictates or beliefs”
(Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p. 56). Superego does not strive the id demands or the realistic goals (the ego) but it strives only for moral perfection. The id presses for satisfaction, the ego tries to delay it and superego urge the morality above all. This makes the ego is caught in the middle between the two opposing forces of id and superego. The ego that is too severely strained because of friction between the id, reality, and superego will develop anxiety (Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p. 56).
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Anxiety signals that the ego is being threatened. Therefore, the ego tries to protect or to defend itself by using the defense mechanism.
Krech (as cited in Minderop, 2010) defines defense mechanism as “a drive or feeling is shifted to substitute object, one that psychologically more available” (1947, p. 585). Defense mechanism is a psychological strategy used to protect oneself from the feeling of anxiety or guilty which arise because of feeling threatened, or because the id or the superego becomes too demanding. Defense mechanism occurs not under human’s conscious control, and are non- voluntaristic. According to Cloninger (2004), there are nine types of defense mechanisms which are explained as follow. a. Repression
Repression can be defined as the psychological strategy of repressing the unacceptable impulses to be unconscious. It helps people to avoid experiencing the anxiety by distorting the source, aim and/or object of the impulses, avoiding the retaliation of the superego, and allowing the impulse to sneak past the censor
(Cloninger, 2004, p. 61). b. Projection
Projection is defined as the process of defense mechanism in which an individual’s unaccepted impulses are projected onto someone else (Cloninger,
2004, p. 46). c. Rationalization
Rationalization can be defined as a defense mechanism in which the people react to the unacceptable impulses by giving the plausible, but false,
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response to disguise the true motives. In other words, rationalization is seen as a self-justification that refuses to confront the reality in order to reduce the anxiety and yet go right behaving as the people want (Cloninger, 2004, p. 47). d. Denial
Denial is a type of defense mechanisms in which an individual does not acknowledge the painful emotion or anxiety that aroused (Cloninger, 2004, p. 45). e. Identification
Identification is a type of defense mechanisms in which the people avoid the recognition of one’s own inadequacies by imitating or adopting someone else’s identity instead. Identification sometimes functions to overcome the feelings of powerlessness. It is because the powerless people adopt the identity of someone who has power over them even if the power is not used for their benefit
(Cloninger, 2004, p. 47). f. Isolation
Isolation is a type of defense mechanisms in which the thoughts related to some unpleasant feelings are erased or are gone (Cloninger, 2004, p. 47). g. Displacement
Displacement can be simply defined as a defense mechanism in which the unacceptable impulses are repressed and shifted to another object. (Cloninger,
2004, p. 46).
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h. Reaction Formation
Reaction formation is a type of defense mechanisms in which unacceptable impulse is repressed and the opposite impulse is developed in an exaggerated form (Cloninger, 2004, p. 46). i. Intellectualization
Intellectualization is a type of defense mechanisms in which people prevent the recognition of an impulse by making an excessive or distorted explanation. Intellectualization works like a sour grape attitude which means people intellectually convince themselves that they did not want what they cannot have (Cloninger, 2004, p. 47).
In this study, the researcher uses Repression, Projection, Rationalization, Denial, and Identification which are the most prominent out of the nine types of defense mechanism.
C. Theoretical Framework
There are three theories used in this study namely theory of character and characterization, theory of conflict and core conflict, and theory of defense mechanism.
The first theory is the theory of character and characterization by Murphy
(1972) which is very useful to identify how Norman Bates is described and portrayed throughout the story.
The second theory is the theory of conflict by Koesnosoebroto (1988) which used to identify the type of the conflicts Norman Bates has to deal with.
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The third theory is the theory of core conflict by Lois Tyson (2011) which very useful to find out what caused the conflicts to happen.
The last theory is the theory of Defense mechanism proposed by Cloninger
(2004) which very useful to find out the type of defense mechanisms used by
Norman Bates in coping with the conflicts that occur.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
Psycho is a thriller novel written by Robert Bloch which originally published by Simon & Schuster in 1959. Robert Albert Bloch (1917-1994) is an
American fiction writer, primarily of crime, horror, fantasy and science fiction. He had won many prestigious awards like such as Ann Radcliffe Award (1960),
Edgar Allan Poe Award (1960), Inkpot Award (1964), Ann Radcliffe Award for
Television (1966), World Fantasy Award (1975), Hugo Special Award (1984),
Bram Stoker Award (1989), etc. (TheFamousPeople.com, 2017, para. 5). The novel Psycho became the most important work of his career which took him to
Hollywood. Psycho was adapted into a movie in 1960 by Sir Alfred Hotcock using the same title. It gains a phenomenal success that it was nominated for four
Oscars. The story also adapted into a psychological horror drama series entitled
Bates Motel in 2013.
Psycho is the novel about Norman Bates, a middle-aged bachelor at an isolated motel who struggles under his domineering mother. One day, Mary Crane and Detective Arbogast who is hired to find Mary were brutally murdered by a figure of an old woman. Norman believes that the figure of an old woman is his mother. At the end of the story, it is revealed Norman is the one who kills his own mother, his mother’s lover, Mary and detective Arbogast. Norman develops a split
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personality in which his mother becomes his alternate self in order to relieve his guilt of murdering.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach applied in this study is the psychoanalytic criticism since it focuses on the aspect of the human mind and the motivation behind human’s actions. “Psychoanalytic criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature” (Barry,
2009, p. 92). Psychoanalytic criticism is built on the psychoanalysis developed by
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freudian theories explore on how human’s mind, instincts, and sexuality work. Psychoanalysis itself is a form of therapy which aims to cure mental disorder by investigating the interation between the conscious and unconscious part of mind (Barry, 2009, p. 92).
Related to the literary criticism, Rohrberger and Woods asserted that
Freud’s exploration of the unconscious area of human mind led him to the conclusion that it was this area that was the wellspring of man’s rich imagination, his capacity for creation, and the complexity of his thought and behavior, and that the content of this region of mind found expression in symbolic words, thoughts, and actions (1971, p. 13).
Personality, thought, behavior and all the psychological aspect in the human mind show human’s motivation revealed through the action, thoughts, expressions, and symbolic words. Therefore, this approach is suitable because it helps the researcher to find the motivation behind the destructive behavior and action of the character in a literary work based on the psychological theories. This approach is used by analyzing the character and how he is depicted in the story, and the conflicts that the character is faced and how he deals with it.
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C. Method of the Study
In order to support this study, the researcher conducts the library research as the method of the study. The primary source of this study is the novel written by Robert Bloch entitled Psycho published in 1959.
The secondary sources to support this study are taken from books, online journal articles, and website articles. Some of the important sources are Reading and Writing about Literature (1971) by Marry Rohrberger and Samuel Wood, M.
J. Murphy’s Understanding Unseen (1972), Cloninger’s Theory of Personalities:
Understanding Persons (2004), other books and journal articles.
There were several steps used by the researcher in this study. The first step was reading Bloch’s Psycho to understand the story itself and the interesting points of the story. The second step was reading some of the previous studies and articles related to Bloch’s Psycho in order to get a better understanding of the story. After that, the researcher chose the topic about defense mechanism used by the character Norman Bates and formulated the research questions to discuss throughout the study. In the next step, the researcher collected and read from books, articles, and studies about the theories and the approach related to the study namely theory of character and characterization, theory of conflict and core conflict, theory of defense mechanism and psychological approach. After getting more understanding about the theories and the approach, the next step was the researcher analyzing the story to answer the research questions by applying the theories used in this study. The last step was making the conclusion of the study.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
The analysis of defense mechanism used by Norman Bates is divided into three sub-analyses. The first part of the analysis is about the characteristics of the character Norman Bates based on the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch. It discusses how Norman Bates is described throughout the story. The second part of the analysis is about the core conflicts that trigger some conflicts to happen within the story. It discusses what conflicts and the cause of the conflicts that Norman Bates has to deal with. The third part of the analysis is about the defense mechanisms and its type used by Norman Bates in coping with the conflicts occurred.
A. The Characteristics of Norman Bates in Psycho
Norman Bates is the main character of the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch.
He is an ordinary man who runs a motel business. At the end of the novel, it is explained that Norman Bates has three different personalities. Norman Bates as
Norman, the little boy who needed his mother and hated anything or anyone who came between him and her. Then, Norma, the mother, who could not be allowed to die. The third aspect might be called Normal˗˗˗the adult Norman Bates, who had to go through the daily routine of living, and conceal the existence of other personalities from the world (Bloch, 1959, pp. 170-171).
Since Norman Bates has three different personalities, each personality has its characteristics. Throughout the story, Norman’s alternate personality as a little boy is characterized as possessive and powerless, and his alternate personality as his mother is murderous, evil and powerful. Norman himself is characterized as
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manipulative, meticulous and perverted. In this study, the researcher only explains the major characteristics that influence the way Norman Bates dealing with his conflicts. By using the theory of character and characterization proposed by
Murphy, the researcher finds several characteristics portrayed by the author as follow.
1. Possessive
Norman is characterized as a possessive person because he cannot stand sharing his mother’s love and attention. This characteristic mainly occurs when his alternate personality as the little boy taking over him. The appearance of this alternate personality can be recognized whenever Norman become a person who
“needed his mother and hated anything or anyone who came between him and her” (Bloch, 1959, p. 170). It can be seen from Norman’s thought which shows his jealousy toward his mother’s lover, Joe Considine.
That was strange. Mother always talked against men, and about Your- father-who-ran-off-and-deserted-me, and yet Uncle Joe Considine could wrap her around his little finger. He could do anything he wanted with Mother. It would be nice to be like that and to look the way Uncle Joe Considine looked (Bloch, 1959, p. 92).
Since Norman was a child, his mother always talks bad about man especially about Norman’s father who leave them. However, all the hatred toward man is gone after his mother is in a relationship with Joe Considine. Norman is being jealous of the romantic relationship between his mother and Joe Considine. It is because since he was a child, all his mother’s love and attention were given to
Norman himself. It also shows that norman is afraid of losing his mother’s love and attention. Besides, the quotation above shows that Norman is being jealous
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because he cannot do everything that a lover can do to his mother. He wants to be in a romantic relationship with his mother.
It also can be seen from the conversation between Sam and Lila about the result of Norman’s medical observation in which shows that Norman is being jealous and angry after finding out about his mother and her lover’s premarital sex. Sam said that Dr. Strainer found out that
It seems the announcement was made under rather embarrassing circumstances, after Norman had walked in on his mother and Considine together in the upstairs bedroom. Whether the full effect of the shock was experienced immediately or whether it took quite a while for the reaction to set in, we don’t know. But we do know what happened as a result. Norman poisoned his mother and Considine with strychnine (Bloch, 1959, p. 169).
After Norman caught his mother’s premarital sex with Joe Considine, his mother told Norman that she and Considine would get married. Norman was shocked and later poisoned both his mother and his mother’s lover. He poisoned Considine because of his jealousy and anger toward him. Norman poisoned his mother because his mother who he sees as the righteous woman was caught in an embarrassing moment.
2. Manipulative
Norman Bates is characterized as a manipulative person because he often
not accepts the blame and passes the blame to other people. It can be seen from
his mother’s opinion about him when Norman is complaining about his mother
possessiveness toward him. He blames his mother for not allowing him to have a
proper social life. However, his mother says that it is he himself who
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“Never had any gumption to leave home. Never had the gumption to go out and get yourself a job, or join the army, or even find yourself a girl— —” “You wouldn’t let me!” “That’s right, Norman. I wouldn’t let you. But if you were half a man, you’d have gone your own way” (Bloch, 1959, p. 13).
From that quotation, it can be seen how Norman spent his childhood only being surrounded by his mother. Because of that, he found himself was uncomfortable with other people. However, Norman blamed his mother for not letting him go while in fact, he was the one who locks himself from the outside world. His mother said,
“You hate people. Because, really, you’re afraid of them, aren’t you? Always have been, ever since you were a little tyke. Rather snuggle up in a chair under the lamp and read. You did it thirty years ago, and you’re still doing it now. hiding away under the covers of a book.” (Bloch, 1959, p. 14).
From the two quotations above, it can be concluded that it is Norman’s own fault for being afraid to interact with people. He is being manipulative by blaming his mother for his own fault. Norman is also being manipulative when he blames
Mary for seducing him while in fact he was the one who peeking her and sexually attracted to her.
He is characterized as a manipulative person because he pretends to be such an obedient son for his mother. It can be seen from his reaction whenever he finds any situation that makes him worry. Norman would drink in order to calm himself although his mother did not allow him to do so.
Bottle. That’s what he needed—a drink. He’d lied to the girl, of course. It was true Mother wouldn’t allow liquor in the house, but he did drink. He kept a bottle down here, at the office. There were times when you had to drink, even if you knew you had no stomach for liquor, even if a few
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ounces were enough to make you dizzy, make you pass out. There were times when you wanted to pass out” (Bloch, 1959, p. 43).
Norman spends his life under his mother’s domination and learns about the outside world only through his mother and books. Since he was a child, he tried to follow what he had been taught by his mother. He was not allowed to drink, smoke and explore his sexuality. Therefore, he did all of those things when he was not around his mother. From the quotation above, it can be seen that Norman secretly drinks in his office. Norman is also being manipulative by secretly making a peephole which he uses to peeking the customers for years.
3. Meticulous
Norman Bates is characterized as a meticulous person because he tends to make everything in detail. It can be seen from his reaction towards the fact that
Mary is murdered by ‘his mother’. After finding out that Mary died, Norman tried to cover up the murder by cleaning up the room and the bathroom where Mary was murdered. He cleaned the bathroom until there was not even a blood spot left.
He cleaned up all those things in order to save his mother.
Last Saturday, of course, he’d finished cleaning up back there at the edge of the swamp. He took his own car down there and loaded the trailer with wood, and by the time he’d finished there wasn’t anything left that would look suspicious. The girl’s earring had gone into the swamp, too. And the other one hadn’t shown up. So he felt reasonably secure (Bloch, 1959, p. 94).
It can be seen from that quotation that he handles everything in great detail. He also already prepared himself to be asked by people regarding Mary Crane and
Mr. Arbogast. He would answered that he never met any of his customer namely
Mary Crane since the Mary booked the room under the name Jane Wilson and Mr.
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Arbogast just came, asking some questions about his customers and then went away.
He had it all figured out. No matter who showed up, the story would be perfectly straight. He’d memorize it, rehearse it, so there’d be no slip of the tongue the way he had slipped tonight. Nobody was going to get him excited or confused; not if he knew in advance what to expect. Already he was planning just what to say when the time came (Bloch, 1959, p. 112).
He is being cautious in planning the way to answer the question so that the people who ask will get the information they need without bringing Norman into the case. He thinks of all the possibility that might happen and thinks about the best way to encounter it.
4. Perverted
Norman Bates is characterized as a pervert because of his sexual behavior that can be regarded as abnormal and unacceptable. Firstly, he often sexually fantasizes about his mother. Norman Bates had never socialized with other people and his life was fully centered to his mother. He also never had a chance to explore his sexual desire because his mother taught him that it was a sin.
However, as he grew up, Norman learned all of those things through books and his mother knew that he used to read ‘odd’ books. It can be seen through his conversation with his mother below.
“I’ll just bet it is. And I’ll just bet it’s crammed full with nasty bits about those dirty savages, like the one you had about the South Seas. Oh, you didn’t think I knew about that one, did you? Hiding it up in your room, the way you hid all the others, those filthy things you used to read——” “Psychology isn’t filthy things, Mother!” “Psychology, he calls it! A lot you know about psychology! I’ll never forget that time you talked so dirty to me, never. To think that a son could come to his own mother and say such things!”
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“But I was only trying to explain something. It’s what they call the Oedipus situation, and I thought if both of us could just look at the problem reasonably and try to understand it, maybe things would change for the better” (Bloch, 1959, p. 15).
He tries to rationalize his sexual desire towards his mother by explaining to his mother about the Oedipus complex. Oedipus complex occurs when a child has feelings of desire for his or her opposite-sex parent.
Secondly, he also can be regarded as a pervert because he often peeks his customers through a hole that he made. It can be seen from the personal description below which shows the moment when he tries to peeks through the hole and see what Mary is doing.
He reached out his hand. it was trembling again, but not with fear. This was anticipation; he knew what he was going to do. He was going to tilt the framed license on the wall to one side and peek through the little hole he’d drilled so long ago. Nobody else knew about the little hole, not even mother. Most certainly not mother. It was his secret (Bloch, 1959, p. 47).
Peeking through the hole has been done by him for a long time. Through that hole, he can see people in the bathroom and sometimes catch their reflection on the door mirror.
5. Murderous
Norman is characterized as murderous because he poisons his mother and her lover, murders Mary Crane and Mr. Arbogast and attempts to murder Lila.
This characteristic mainly occurs when the alternate personality as his mother taking over him. This alternate personality occurs whenever Norman wants to commit murder. It can be seen from the situation when he murders Mary Crane.
Mary started to scream, and then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher’s knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream. And her head (Bloch, 1959, p. 41).
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Mary was taking shower when Norman who dressed in his mother’s clothes entered the room. Mary did not notice when he opened the door. Suddenly,
Norman grabbed the curtain and murder her. The quotation shows how evil and cruel Norman was when we murder Mary Crane.
It is also can be seen from the way Norman does not feel guilty or feel pity toward the victims. When Mr. Arbogast walked up to the house, he was killed by a figure of an old woman who later known that it was Norman dressing in his mother’s clothes. Detective Arbogast was killed because he insisted to meet
Norman’s mother to ask several questions regarding Mary Crane. After killing him, Norman Bates was calmly taking care of new customers despite
knowing what was lying up there at the house, underneath the hall rug. That’s where he’d left it, without trying to move anything; he just pulled the sides of the rug and tossed them over to cover it. There was quite a bit blood, but it wouldn’t soak through. Besides, there was nothing else he could do, then. Not in broad daylight (Bloch, 1959, p. 110).
His reaction does not show that he feels regret or afraid of being caught by other people. He did not feel guilty or pity toward Mary Crane and Mr. Arbogast after knowing that they died. He just cleaned the place where they were murdered and sank their bodies and their belongings in the swamp.
The murderous characteristic is also shown by Norman himself which can be seen from Sam and Lila’s conversation about Norman Bates. When he knew that his mother and his mother’s lover want to get married, he poisoned them.
He used some kind of rat poison, served it to them with their coffee. I guess he waited until they had some sort of private celebration together; anyway there was a big dinner on the table, and the coffee was laced with brandy. It must have helped to kill the taste. “Horrible!” Lila shuddered.
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“From all I hear, it was. The way I understand it, strychnine poisoning brings on convulsions, but not unconsciousness. The victims usually die from asphyxiation, when the chest muscles stiffen. Norman must have watched it all. And it was too much to bear (Bloch, 1959, p. 169).
As it is explained in the previous characteristic, Norman kills his mother and
Considine because of his anger and his jealousy. The quotation above shows how horrible, evil and murderous Norman was. He is not only poisoning his mother and his mother’s lover, but he is also watching them being tortured by the pain.
B. The Internal Conflicts of Norman Bates
Conflict in literature is divided into internal and external. Internal conflict is the conflict aroused within oneself or a person against himself while external conflict is the conflict between a person and an outside force. Throughout the story, it is shown that most of all the conflicts occur are internal conflicts. Internal conflict occurs when there are two opposing forces or desire within oneself. The conflicts that he should face are Norman against his sexual desire, Norman against his obsession towards his mother, and Norman against his dependency on his mother. Every conflict that faced by Norman has its core conflict which is explained as follow.
1. Norman against His Sexual Desire
In the previous section, it is explained that Norman is afraid of being surrounded by people. He is also being shy around woman which in contrast with the fact that he is also a pervert. However, when it comes to sexual desire,
Norman has to ban all those things from himself. Throughout his life, Norman has been taught by his mother that sexual desire is a sin. This leads him to have a
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conflict within himself because he is afraid of expressing his sexual desires and it makes him feels embarrassed whenever he nears woman. Every time he thinks about sexual desire, he will think of his mother.
Mother was right. They were bitches. But you couldn’t help yourself, not when a bitch was as lovely as this one was, and you knew you would never see her again. You had to see her again. If you were any kind of a man, you’d have told her so, when you were in her room. You’d have brought in the bottle and offered her a drink, drunk with her, and then you’d carry her over the bed and— No, you wouldn’t. Not you. Because you’re impotent. That’s the word you couldn’t remember, isn’t it? Impotent. The word the books used, the word Mother used, the word that meant you were never going to see her again because it wouldn’t do any good (Bloch, 1959, p. 46).
From the quotation above, it can be seen the conflict between Norman and his sexual desire. He often sexually fantasizes about woman but he bans all of those thoughts as soon as he thinks of his mother’s taught. As a result of this conflict within himself, Norman killed the woman when he is sexually attracted to her.
This conflict occurs because of Norman’s fears of intimacy. Fear of intimacy occurs when people believe that intimacy will seriously damage or destroy them.
Norman restrains his sexual drives in order to be a ‘good boy’ for his mother.
2. Norman against His Obsession towards His Mother
Since Norman was a child, his mother was so possessive toward him. It can be seen from the conversation between Sam and Lila about Norman’s mental condition after getting examined by three psychiatrists,
“I’m going to skip the data about his school years, and his rejection by the army. But it was after that, when he was around nineteen, that his mother must have decided Norman wasn’t ever going out into the world on his own. Maybe she deliberately prevented him from growing up; we’ll never actually know just how much she was responsible for what he became. It
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was probably then that he began to develop his interest in occultism, things like that. And it was then this Joe Considine came into the picture” (Bloch, 1959, p. 168).
It can be seen how Norman’s mother prevent him to have a social life. The conflict between Norman and his obsession occurs when his mother’s possessiveness turns him to be someone who is being obsessive over his own mother. As Norman grows up, his obsession leads him to think about his mother in a sensual way as it is described through the quotation,
Now it was up over her breasts, he didn’t like to think about such things, he never thought about Mother’s breasts, he mustn’t, and it was good that they were disappearing, sinking away forever, so he’d never think about such things again (Bloch, 1959, p. 62).
The core conflict that triggers this conflict to happen is Oedipal fixation or
Oedipus complex. Schultz and Schultz state that based on Freud theory about the
Oedipus complex, the mother becomes a love object for a young boy. They express their sexual longings for her through fantasy and overt behavior.
Therefore, they tend to regard their father as a rival or a threat because they perceive that their father has a special relationship with their mother and they are not allowed to participate (2005, p. 65). As it is explained before, Norman is afraid to express his sexual desire. Besides, he also never interacts with people and spend his life with his possessive mother. Therefore, the only person to whom
Norman could put out his sexual instincts was his mother.
Besides, the absence of a father figure makes him become more obsessive to his mother. According to Freud, in order to resolve the Oedipal conflict, “the boy replaces the sexual longing for the mother with a more acceptable affection and develops a strong identification with the father” (Schultz & Schultz, 2005, p.
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66). Since Norman was deserted by his father when he was a child, there was no one he could look up to as a child except his mother. Therefore, he could not replace the sexual longings into more acceptable way because he has no one as a role model for him to identify himself. As a result, he becomes overly obsessive towards his mother which leads him to poison Joe Considine and his own mother.
When she came to me that time, told me she wanted to get married again, I’m the one who stopped her. Yes, I stopped her, I was to blame for that! You don’t have to tell me about jealousy, possessiveness—I was worse than she could ever be. Ten times crazier, if that’s the word you want to use (Bloch, 1959, p. 36).
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Norman considered poisoning Joe
Considine and his mother as a way to stop his mother to get married. He did such thing because of his possessiveness and jealousy. Norman was being jealous ever since his mother is in a relationship with Joe Considine.
3. Norman against His Dependency on His Mother
As it is explained above, when Norman’s mother wanted to marry Joe
Considine, he poisoned Joe Considine and his mother because of jealousy. The conflict between Norman and his dependency on his mother occurred when he felt guilty after killing his own mother. It can be seen from the quotation,
“Apparently, now that it was all over, he couldn’t stand the loss of his mother. He wanted her back” (Bloch, 1959). The core conflict that triggers the conflict between Norman and his dependency on his mother is his fear of abandonment.
Fear of abandonment occurs when people afraid that their loved ones will desert them. Therefore, he started to act as if his mother was still alive. He also dug up his own mother’s grave and brought her body back home. Besides, his fears also
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lead him to feel that he had to protect his mother from other people. After ‘his mother’ murdering people, he would cover up the murder and cleaned all the evidence so that his mother could safe.
“I’m not asking you, Mother. I’m telling you. You’re going to stay in the fruit cellar until I think it’s safe for you to come upstairs again. And I’ll hang that Indian blanket on the wall, so that it covers up the door. Nobody will notice a thing, even if they bother to go down into the cellar. It’s the only way we can both be sure that you’re going to be safe (Bloch, 1959, p. 115).
From that quotation, it can be seen how he protect ‘his mother’ and makes sure that ‘his mother’ will not be caught by people or the police. He is afraid that his mother will be taken away.
C. The Defense Mechanisms used by Norman Bates to Face his Conflicts
After examining the conflicts and its core conflicts, the researcher found that the way Norman cope with the conflicts showed the use of several types of defense mechanisms. Cloninger states that defense mechanism is the way “the ego uses various strategies to resolve intrapsychic conflicts” (2004, p. 45). Defense mechanisms are used by Norman to reduce the anxiety provoked by the conflicts.
The defense mechanisms used by Norman Bates are repression, projection, rationalization, denial and identification. These defense mechanisms are discussed as follow.
1. Repression
The first type of defense mechanisms used by Norman is repression.
Repression itself occurs when unacceptable impulses are forced to be unconscious in order to avoid experiencing anxiety (Cloninger, 2004, p. 45). Basically, in repression, the ego protects itself from undesirable id impulses by repressing those
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impulses (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 35). As it is explained before, Norman Bates finds it is hard for him to express his sexual desire. Ever since he was a child, he had already been taught by his mother that sexual drive was considered as something bad and nasty. It can be seen from the quotation,
Maybe the real trouble was that his eyes were bad. Yes, that was it, because he remembered how he used to enjoy looking in the mirror as a boy. He liked to stand in front of the glass without any clothes on. One time Mother caught him at it and hit him on the side of the head with the big silver-handled hairbrush. She hit him hard, and it hurt. Mother said that was a nasty thing to do, to look at yourself that way (Bloch, 1959, p. 91).
The quotation shows that when Norman was caught looking at his naked body through the mirror, he would be beaten by his mother. Because of that, whenever his sexual drives occur, it becomes the conflict within himself. In order to deal with the conflict between himself and his sexual drives, he represses the sexual drive that occurs. His id is seeking self-gratification while his ego is refusing the id’s demand by acknowledging that it is bad in order to protect himself from his mother. Because Norman was being punished for his sexual drives since he was a child, he learns to be anxious whenever he experiences the impulses. It becomes partial repression because he is not permanently repressing the sexual drive and it still occurs sometimes.
2. Projection
As it is explained above, Norman deals with the conflict within himself regarding his sexual drive by repressing the demand of his id. Besides, he is also being denial by refusing to admit that he is sexually interested in Mary Crane after peeking her. It contributes to another defense mechanism that occurs which is
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projection. Cloninger states that projection occurs when “the person’s own unacceptable impulse is instead thought to belong to someone else” (2004, p. 46).
When Mary Crane stayed in Bates’s motel, Norman tried to peek into the room when Mary was in there through a hole. Because Norman is a pervert, he was peeking and starting to sexually fantasize about Mary. However, not long after that, he started to accuse Mary as the one who teases him. He said,
Did she know? Had she known all along, known about the hole in the wall, known that he was watching? Did she want him to watch, was she doing this to him on purpose, the bitch? She was swaying back and forth, back and forth, and now the mirror was wavy again and she was wavy, and he couldn’t stand it, he wanted to pound on the wall, he wanted to scream at her to stop because this was an evil, perverted thing she was doing and she must stop before he became evil and perverted too. That’s what the bitches did to you, they perverted you, and she was a bitch, they were all bitches, Mother was a——(Bloch, 1959, p. 48).
At that time, Mary was watching herself naked in front of the mirror and possing as she praises herself for having a good body. Norman who was spying her through the peephole thought that she did that on purpose and she was the one who did the evil things. It can be seen that he is being manipulative by trying to project his anxiety of sexually attracted to Mary and accuses her of seducing him.
When his id or his sexual drive provoke too much anxiety, his ego tries to reduce the anxiety by attributing it to Mary. The projection is used by Norman Bates because he does not want to admit that he was sexually attracted in her and he is afraid of his mother to admit that since he had been taught that it is a bad thing to do.
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3. Rationalization
In the previous discussion about Norman’s internal conflict, it is shown that Norman chooses to murder the woman with whom he sexually attracted as his way to cope with the conflict between himself and his sexual desire. It is mainly because of his fear of having an emotional closeness to another woman which he believes will destroy his relationship with his mother. Throughout the story, it is shown that Norman would turn into ‘his mother’ whenever he committed murder.
Because of that, Norman believes that it is his mother who murders all those people. In this case, rationalization is shown through how Norman justifies his mother’s act of murder and thinks that the victims deserve to die. Rationalization occurs when a person is justifying threatening actions or thoughts by giving a plausible yet false explanation. It can be seen from the quotation below.
He didn’t want to drown, he didn’t want to strangle and suffocate in the slime, he didn’t want to go down there the way the girl-bitch had gone down. And now he remembered why she was there; it was because she had been killed, and she had been killed because she was evil. She had flaunted herself before him, she had deliberately tempted him with the perversion of her nakedness. Why, he’d wanted to kill her himself when she did that, because Mother had taught him about evil and the ways of evil and thou shalt not suffer a bitch to live. So what Mother had done was to protect him, and he couldn’t see her die, she wasn’t wrong. He needed her now, and she needed him, and even if she were crazy she wouldn’t let him go under now. she couldn’t (Bloch, 1959, p. 62).
Norman believes that his mother is the only righteous woman and his mother will always protect him. Therefore, when ‘his mother’ murdered Mary, he justifies his mother’s action. The act of murdering is disapproved by his moral superego and hence his ego seeks a way to defend itself by adding that it is as his mother’s way
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to protect him from evil things to make ‘his mother’s action’ acceptable to the superego.
Besides, rationalization can also be seen from the quotation above that
Norman is also justifying his mother’s action by saying that Mary deserves to die because she is evil. Norman thought that Mary deserves to die because of her own fault. Norman also justifies his mother’s act of murder and says that she is innocent because she is mentally unstable. It can be seen from the quotation
“cold-blooded murder is one thing, but sickness is another. You aren’t really a murderer when you’re sick in the head” (Bloch, 1959, p. 52). Therefore, he thinks that she is innocent and does not deserve to be punished for murdering people.
4. Denial
In the previous discussion about the conflicts and its core conflicts, it is
explained that Norman has a fear of abandonment which triggers him to have a
conflict between him and his dependency on his mother. In order to cope with his
anxiety of losing his mother, Norman uses denial as his defense mechanism.
Denial occurs when the person denies the existence of unacceptable impulses or
anxiety. In this case, Norman is refusing to acknowledge that he has killed his
mother and the fact that his mother already die. It can be seen from the quotation
below.
“Oh, yes. I brought Mother back home with me. That was the exciting part, you see—going out to the cemetery at night and digging up the grave. She’d been shut up in that coffin for such a long time that at first I thought she really was dead. But she wasn’t, of course. She couldn’t be. Or else she wouldn’t have been able to communicate with me when I was in the hospital all that while (Bloch, 1959, p. 149).
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After his mother and Joe Considine talked to Norman that they want to get married, Norman poisoned both of them. Since Norman knew everything about his mother including her handwriting, Norman manipulated the murder by writing a suicide note in which telling that Joe Considine was unable to marry Norma
Bates because he had already married to someone else. The police took Norman to the hospital because he was pretty shock at that time. He was laid up in the hospital for a couple of months and he didn’t even go to his mother’s funeral.
Even when he was in hospital, he believed that he can communicate with his mother. Because of that, when Norman came back from the hospital, he came to the cemetery and dug up his mother’s grave and brought her body home. Because of his taxidermy hobby, he preserved his mother’s body and acted as if his mother was still alive. It can be seen from the quotation below.
“So he brought her back, actually brought her back from the grave and gave her a new life. he put her to bed at night, dressed her and took her down into the house by day. Naturally, he concealed all this from outsiders and he did it well (Bloch, 1959, p. 171).
Throughout the story, it is shown that Norman casually has a conversation with
‘his mother’. He even tried to hid his mother’s body as his way to protect her from the police and prevent her to murder other people.
5. Identification
The last defense mechanism that occurs is identification. Identification
occurs when a person adopts the identity of someone who has power over him in
order to overcome the feelings of powerlessness. In this case, Norma is the
powerful figure since she was the one who dominating over Norman and Norman
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is the powerless one. Identification can be seen from the way Norman has a
tendency to dressing in woman’s clothing which can be seen from the quotation
as follows.
But he does suspect that Norman was a secret transvestite long before Mrs. Bates died. You know what a transvestite is, don’t you? Lila nodded. “A person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite sex, isn’t that it?” “Well, the way Steiner explained it, there’s a lot more to it than that. Transvestites aren’t necessarily homosexual, but they identify themselves strongly with members of the other sex. In a way, Norman wanted to be like his mother, and in a way he wanted his mother to become part of himself” (Bloch, 1959, pp. 167-168).
Through the quotation above, it is shown that Norman’s tendency of wearing woman’s clothing shows that Norman somehow wants to be as powerful as his mother. His obsession to be like his mother was getting worse as he grew up. As it is explained before, Norman is overly obsessed with his mother and he is also sexually attracted to his own mother. This leads him to poison the man with whom his mother is in relation, Joe Considine. He poisoned his mother and his mother’s lover after hearing that they want to get married. Since Norman was so obsessed toward his mother, he felt jealous and he could not stand to share his mother’s love with other people. Therefore, he killed them and since that moment the personality of his mother would take over him whenever he was under pressure.
According to Cramer, one of the main features of identification is “a change that occurs in the ego (i.e., the personality, behavior, or motives of the individual)” (2006, p. 94). Norman Bates experiences personality change and identify himself as his mother.
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No matter what you did, you couldn’t get away from it. Not by trying to behave like a good boy and not by trying to behave like an adult, either. Nothing helped, because he was what he was, and that wasn’t enough. Not enough to save him, and not enough to save Mother. If there ease going to be any help at all now, it would have come from her (Bloch, 1959, pp. 105-106).
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Norman himself considers his mother as the powerful one because he believes that only her who can save him.
At the beginning of this chapter, it is explained that Norman is suffering from Dissociated Identity Disorder or multiple disorder with three different personalities which one of them is as Norma, his mother. When Norman was on the crisis, he would turn into his mother who is considered as the powerful one to cope with the conflict. It can be seen from the quotation below.
There’s no way finding out the actual situation, but Dr. Steiner is sure that whenever a crisis arose, Norma became the dominant personality. Bates would start drinking, the blackout while she took over. During the blackout, of course, he’d dressed up in her clothing. Afterwards he’d hide her image away, because in his mind she was the real murderer and had to be protected” (Bloch, 1959, p. 172).
Lahey states that Dissociated Identity Disorder or multiple disorder is a sudden alternation of cognition which may take “the form of memory loss, change of identity, or feelings of unreality” (2009, p. 486). In this case, Norman usually drank alcohol until he blackout. When Norman was blackout, the personality of his mother took over him and Norman has no idea about the other personality inside him. When his mother’s personality was taking over him, he would dressed like his mother and even changed the tone of his voice. When Norman woke up, he would completely unaware of what the other personalities did.
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As it is mentioned before, Norman became his mother who he viewed as someone who strong enough to handle the situations. It can also be seen from the way he changes into his mother in order to murder Mr. Arbogast. When Mr.
Arbogast insisted to meet his mother to ask about Mary Crane, he was so trembling for he was afraid that Mr. Arbogast would arrest his mother.
He began to shake and the sobs came tearing up out of his chest, the terrible sobs, and he put his head down against her skirt and he told her. “All right,” Mother said. She didn’t seem surprised at all. “We’ll take care of this. Just leave everything to me” (Bloch, 1959, p. 106).
Norman has a strong dependency on his mother and he is afraid of losing his mother. It can be seen that Norman was so afraid of getting caught by Mr.
Arbogast. He did not know how to handle the situation. When the anxiety occurs, he is seeking a way to cope with it through his mother. Therefore, in order to get rid of the anxiety or the crisis occurs, he changes into his mother. Norman who dressed in his mother’s clothes murdered Mr. Arbogast. When he was completely conscious, all he knew was his mother had already murdered Mr. Arbogast.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
Cloninger (2004) stated that defense mechanism occurs when the ego uses various strategies in order to deal with the conflicts. The conflict itself occurs when the id impulse is unacceptable to the superego and the ego. In this study,
Norman Bates, the main character of Robert Bloch’ Psycho uses defense mechanism in coping with the conflicts that he has to deal with. This chapter discusses the conclusion of the analysis in the previous chapter. Therefore, the researcher draws the following conclusion based on the three problem formulation that aimed to find the character and characterization of Norman Bates, his conflicts and the defense mechanism used in coping with his conflicts.
The first conclusion is through the speech, the reaction, and personal description, Norman’s personality is being portrayed with several characteristics namely possessive, manipulative, meticulous, perverted, and murderous.
The second conclusion is about the conflicts that Norman has to deal with.
Throughout the story, Norman has internal conflicts or conflict within himself.
The first conflict is between Norman and his sexual desire which occurs because of his fears of intimacy. The second conflict is between Norman and his obsession toward his mother which occurs because of his tendency to have a sexual interest to his mother or known as Oedipal fixation. The third conflict is between Norman and his dependency on his mother which occurs because of his fears of abandonment.
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In order to cope with the conflicts above, Norman uses several types of defense mechanism. Based on the theory of defense mechanisms proposed by
Cloninger (2004), there are several types namely repression, projection, rationalization, denial, and identification that are applicable in this study. Norman use repression, projection, and rationalization in order to deal with the conflict between him and his sexual desire. He represses his sexual desire towards woman because he has been taught by his mother that sexual-related things are sin. After repressing the sexual desire, Norman use projection as his defense mechanism by accusing the woman for teasing him and ended up killing the woman with whom he is sexually interested. Norman uses rationalization by justifying his mother’s murder by thinking that all the victims deserve to die and his mother is innocent since she is mentally unstable.
In dealing with the conflicts between himself and his dependency on his mother, Norman denies it by refusing to acknowledge that he had poisoned his mother and his mother already died. Lastly, identification occurs when Norman has to deal with the conflict between him and his obsession toward his mother, and also between him and his dependency on his mother. Identification is shown through the way Norman dresses in his mother’s clothes and changes his personality into his mother whenever crisis aroused.
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REFERENCES
Aviari, C. K. (2018). A Study on Conflicts and Defense Mechanisms in Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Barry, P. (2009). Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Bloch, R. (1959). Psycho. New York: The Overlook Press.
Cleckley, H. M. (1941). The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Reinterpret the So- Called Psychopathic Personality. Missouri: Mosby.
Cloninger, S. C. (2004). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons (4th ed.). New Jersey: Upper Saddle River.
Cramer, P. (2006). Protecting the Self: Defense Mechanisms in Action. New York: The Guilford Press.
Feist, J., & Feist, G. (2008). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Hogan, R., Johnson, J., & Briggs, S. (1997). Handbook of Personality Psychology. San Diego: Academic Press.
Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (1999). Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (7th ed.). New York: Longman.
Koesnosoebroto, S. B. (1988). The Anatomy of Prose Fiction. Jakarta: Proyek Pengembangan Lembaga Pendidikan Tenaga Kependidikan.
Lahey, B. B. (2009). Psychology: An Introduction (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Minderop, A. (2010). Psikologi Sastra. Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia.
Murphy, M. J. (1972). Understanding Unseen. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
Raj, M. S. (2017). A Psychoanalytical Reading of Norman Bates in Robert Bloch's Psycho. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR), 1633-1636.
Rohrberger, M., & Woods, S. (1971). Reading and Writing about Literature. New York: Random House Inc.
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Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2005). Theories of Personality. Belmont: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Setianto, A. (2017). Okonkwo's Anxieties and Defense Mechanisms in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Spolander, R. (2018). The Fear of Mrs. Bates : The Use of Psychoanalytical Aspects, Anticipation and Retrospection in Robert Bloch’s Psycho. Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-70901
TheFamousPeople.com, E. (2017, November 03). Robert Bloch Biography. Retrieved from TheFamousPeople.com: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-bloch-5100.php
Tyson, L. (2011). Using Critical Theory: How to Read and Write about Literature. London: Routledge.
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APPENDIX
Summary of Robert Bloch’s Psycho
Robert Bloch’s Psycho is a story about Norman Bates, a forty-year-old man who was running a motel business in Fairvale. One day, Mary Crane, one of the customers came to Bates’s motel after impulsively stealing forty thousand dollars from her client. Norman invited Mary to have dinner at his house since there was no nearest restaurant. During the dinner, Mary suggested Norman to put his mother in a mental institution, but Norman was angry and denies that nothing was wrong with his mother. After that, Mary said goodbye and returned to her room though Norman still wanted to talk with her.
After taking drink, Norman started to peeking through a hole he made long time ago. Looking at Mary who posed in front the mirror, Norman started to accuse Mary for teasing him. Suddenly, Norman passed out because he drank to much. Mary who was taking shower suddenly attacked by a figure of old woman.
After being concious, Norman came to Mary’s room and found Mary’s body was covered with blood and all he knew was his mother already killed the woman. He cleaned up all the evidences and sank it in the swamp.
Mr. Arbogast, the invertigator hired by Lowery Agency where Mary worked for was trying to retrieve the forty thousand dollars that taken away by
Mary. Mr. Arbogast went to Bates’s Motel and found out that Mary had ever been there before and suspected that Norman might hide something about Mary. When
Mr. Arbogast entered the house, he was murdered by a mysterious figure who
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Norman believe was his mother. Norman cleaned up the evidences by sank it in the swamp and decided to hide his mother in order to prevent her from murdering people.
After waiting for Mr. Arbogast to call them, Sam and Lila chose to investigate themselves. They came to Bates’s motel and found Mary’s other earing, and Lila decided to meet the Sheriff while Sam was waiting for her. While waiting for Lila, Sam asked several question to Norman regarding Norman and his business. Norman offered Sam drinks and shockingly Norman started to tell Sam about his mother and Joe Coinsidine’s death, how he dug his mother’s grave and brought his mother to home, and gave her life. Sam thought that Norman was drunk but Norman said that Lila was not on the way to Sheriff but she probably would go to Norman’s house. Sam was shook and suddenly Norman hit Sam’s head with the bottle. Meanwhile, Lila entered Norman’s house and searching for
Mary who she thought was in the house. When she entered the cellar, she was startled by the mummified corpse of an old woman. She was screamed and at the same time Norman, dressed in his mother’s clothes and make up on, rushed into the room with the knife in his hand. With a high and shrill voice, he told Lila that he is Norma Bates, Norman’s mother. Fortunately, Sam, who was already concious, heard Lila’s scream and came to help Lila right before being harmed by
Norman.
After talking to the psychiatrists who had examined Norman, Sam learned that Norman and his mother had lived together since his father deserted them and therefore it makes him became dependent to his mother. Norman also was a
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transvestite or a person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite sex since he was a child. It is believed that Norman had a tendency to be like his mother and wanted her to be part of him. Besides, since he had no social life, Norman spent most of his time reading book about occult, spiritualism, and Satanism and even developed interest in it. Sam also learned that because of Norman’s jealousy of the relationship between Joe Coinsidine and his mother, he poisoned them both and then writing a suicide letter in his mother’s handwriting. Right after his mother died, Norman was laid up in the hospital for a couple months. After being discharged from hospital, Norman dug his mother’s grave and brought her corpse home. Because of his hobby of doing taxidermy, he mummified his mother body and started to believe that his mother was alive. Norman started to develop multiple personality with three facets in order to suppress the guilt of killing his own mother. There were Norman or a child who needed his mother and could not stand of sharing his mother with other people, Norma or his mother, and the normal Norman who had to go through the daily life and carried the other personalities. Dr. Steiner, the psychiatrist, believed that when the crisis aroused,
Norma would be the dominant personality. Norman would drink until he pass out so Norma would took over him. Therefore, when Norman was concious, he believed that his mother was the one who murdered people. Norman is put in the mental institution and he was diagnosed as a psychotic. In the end of the story, it is portrayed that the only personality that exist in Norman’s body was his mother of Norma. It also revealed that his mother could not even hurt a fly which means that Norman personality was the murderous one.