psychoanalysis of Norman Bates
Norman Bates is an extremely mentally ill individual with a troubled past. When Norman was 5 years old his father died leaving him with no male figure in his life. He died when Norman was in the stage of the Oedipus complex. This tragedy left him unable to successfully complete this stage, leaving Norman with feelings of intense desire for his mother. When Norman’s mother got a boyfriend Norman was enraged and brutally murdered the both of them. After the murder Norman stole his mothers’ corpse and kept it in the basement of their house. Normans house itself is a representation of his own mind. Norman put his mother in the basement which represents his ID which is his malicious unconscious thoughts. Trying to hide his mother in his basement is his attempt to erase the murder and bring his mother back to life. The ground floor is his ego and the top floor is his superego; it is also where his mothers room is and it represents reality. To keep his mother alive he manifested himself as his mother and then acts as if they are two completely different entities. His mother counterpart is also his superego; her personality is protective and she doesn’t want to see her son fall into the hands of a disgusting woman with an ugly appetite. His ID is Norman’s unconscious that turns perfectly normal things into evil. Norman reveals the erotic relationship he had with his mother by telling Marion “a son is a poor substitute for a lover. Due to this incompletion of the Oedipus complex he is incapable of expressing his sexual feelings towards Marion due to his sexually troubled past. In his mind sex is bad and he morphs his lust for women into rage and violence. These two states of mind tear apart the ego which is trying to act normal. Norman appears normal but a little awkward, he asks Marion to dinner and he comes off as sincere and kind. When he first sees Marion he tell her “gee, I’m sorry” and acts like a normal person would. Right after...