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Norman Bates was only a boy when his mother passed away. After her death, he spent most of his time running the Bates Motel. What he did in his free time is what deviates from the norm. Norman took his mother from her grave and preserved her, keep her in the basement, and dressed her. She was dead but still alive in his mind. One day, a young woman came to the hotel looking for a room. After giving her one, Norman spied on her while she undressed but it is at this point that Norman blacked out and their mother took over. In his mind, his mother didn’t approve of Mary “teasing” him, so he killed her. Norman has a mental disease called dissociative identity disorder. His story and disorder are similar to those of Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy.
Dissociative identity disorder is sometimes caused by neglect as a child. Norman Bates was rejected from the army at the age of nineteen and his mother decided he would never go out into the world alone. “Maybe she deliberately prevented him from growing up… Mrs. Bates hated men ever since her husband left her and the baby, and this is one of the reasons why she treated Norman the way she did” (Bloch 168). The person suffering from this experiences deep memory loss (“Dissociative”) Norman experienced this when killing Mary, he talks of his mother standing over him rocking him to sleep after watching Mary undress. When he wakes up the shower is still running and Mary is dead.
A person with dissociative identity disorder may have two or more personalities. Norman had three, “There was Norman, the little boy who needed his mother and hated anything or anyone who came between him and her. Then, Norm, the mother, could not die. The third aspect might be called Normal-the adult Norman Bates…[who concealed] the existence of the other personalities from the world”(Bloch 170). The many personalities that come along with this disorder are caused by “a parent who swings unpredictably between aggression and care” (“Dissociative”). Norman and Norma Bates were very close however “she dominated him” (Bloch 167). At the beginning of the story, you get to see Norman and Norma interact in a way that exhibits the domination and mood swings that cause dissociative identity disorder. Norma had just woken from her nap and went downstairs to where Norman was reading a book, she asked him what time it was and Norman answered. As the conversation progressed, Norman said he didn’t know it was so late since he was reading but then his mother cut him off, “Don't you think I have eyes? I can see what you’ve been doing?” (Bloch 12). Norman got very upset and thought “It’s always what you want and what you think. You make me sick!” But mother heard him, “‘Do I boy?’ mother’s voice [got] deceptively gentle, but that didn’t fool Norman. Not when she called him ‘boy’: that’s how she treated him, too, which made it worse.” (Bloch 12).
Necrophilia is the sexual attraction to dead bodies and is not caused by any specific trauma. “The act of killing is in itself not enough… [it is] the ownership of the victim beyond death...that these individuals find most fulfilling” (Arntfield). Norman was attracted to both men and women. During the investigation and trial, “Norman Bates was portrayed as guilty of cannibalism, satanism, incest, and necrophilia” (Bloch 166).
Norman Bate's story was partially based on the real-life story of Ed Gein. Gein also grew up in a house under his mother's control. His father was an alcoholic and his mother was a religious fanatic. She preached about lust being a sin as did Norma. This was shown when Norma killed Mary after Norman watched Mary undress. After his father's death, Gein moved to a new home. Ed was always a mama's boy and he never dated. When his mother passed, he spent his time alone. Ed Gein made a new body out of a woman's skin so he could look like his mother… he was a transvestite. A transvestite is someone who gains pleasure from dressing like the opposite sex. Norman Bates “wanted his mother to become a part of himself”(Bloch 168). Ed Gein was finally caught it was because the authorities found Bernice Worden's “headless, gutted body hanging from the ceiling” (“Ed”). Children called Ed Gein’s house haunted. They said the Gein showed them masks and parents said they were carnival masks” (“The tale of”). Gein also robbed bodies from graves like bates. When Gein's home was searched, they found a dozen heads “so well preserved that they could be recognized. [They] all had a resemblance to his mother who passed…[there were also] chairs and lamp shades covered with tanned human skin.” (“The Tale of”).
Jeffery Dahmer killed 17 boys between 1978 and 1991. Dahmer hung around gay bars, malls, and bus stops to find african american boys (Jeffrey). Dahmer laced their drinks and then, after killing them, performed sex acts. This all began when Dahmer was a boy. He had surgery to correct a double hernia which seems to change him. He claims that his fondness for necrophilia and murder began around age 14 however he became “noticeably subdued, he became increasingly withdrawn following the birth of his younger brother and the family’s frequent moves” (Jeffrey). Jeffrey Dahmer and Norman Bates were killed in the same way as their first time murdering. Norman Bates killed his mother and her lover, Joe Considine, by poisoning their drinks as Jeffrey Dahmer did when killing all his victims. Bates, Gein, and Dahmer all ate their victims as well. Bates was put on trial and accused of
Ted Bundy might be the most well-known killer. Ted Bundy has a Netflix documentary about his life in detail called “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes”. In the documentary, the investigator talks about how he would phrase questions. He would say “If you were Joe Schmoe and you killed Mary Jane why would you do it” and Bundy would answer with he did do it. Bundy grew up with his mother who later married his stepfather for whom he had no respect and during his teen years a dark side of him started to appear (Ted). Bundy later started his killings all across the nation and later fell in love and had a child. He went to jail twice and did escape too. Bundy was sentenced to death by electric chair and in the end did admit to the charges against him. Bundy, Bates, Berkowitz, Dahmer, and Gein were all very intelligent people who just had a dark side that took over. Ted Bundy did also commit necrophilia during his killings as did Bates.
Dissociative identity disorder is a mental disease but it is also something that can be treated. Berkowitz is an example of this. He has the disorder but, he also found religion and focuses on that now. What makes Bates, Gein, Berkowitz, Dahmer, and Bundy unique is that not once did they decide to stop. Bates is killed as his split personality Norma. Gein was killed because he liked to make things out of the skin and the woman he stole from graves or killed all resembled his mother whom he loved dearly. Dahmer ate his victims. Berkowitz was killed because a demon-possessed dog, inside his head, told him to kill. Bundy admitted to his crimes by telling why he thinks someone would kill the way the victims were killed. Dissociative identity disorder can be treated but it can also be prevented.
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