We're All a Little Crazy, Sometimes...

Robert Bloch’s Psycho is a classic in the horror world, and Hitchcock’s film version of the story is too. I’ve seen the film before, but this was my first read of Bloch’s novel. At first I was surprised to see how short the book was since my edition of it was not even 200 pages long. However, after reading the book, I think a longer book would have dragged the structure on too much. Bloch moves through most scenes with an intense, cut-throat pace that dives right into the story. We are hooked from the baffling argument Norman has with his mother at the beginning, to Mary’s quick, brutal death, and then all the way through Sam and Lila’s hunt for their sister.

Though the pace and tension were excellent, there were some scenes that dragged the structure down a bit. For example, the sheriff’s story did not seem necessary. His character didn’t grab my attention and I think things would have worked out just the same if Sam and Lila had gone right to the motel after Arbogast’s disappearance and didn’t even bother trying to get the sheriff to investigate.

However, Sam and Lila, especially Lila, taking matters into their own hands was an aspect I enjoyed in the book. Lila is a strong character whose determination to find out what happened to her sister almost gets her killed, but still she prevails. Lila is the one to track down Sam, find the bloody earring, and investigate the Bates’ house. In addition to that, she forgives Norman at the end. She comments he must have suffered more than any of them (though I find that debatable since he decapitated Mary), and it really makes for a poignant moment. I know I would not have been so forgiving had I been in that situation.

I'm not sure who the amazing artist of this work is,
but I found the photo here.

Psycho reminded me of Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. In both stories, Norman and Emily are both people stuck in the past, tied to a love of some kind that corrupts their personality. Emily slept next to the corpse of her husband as a reminder of a happier, simpler life when the world made sense to her. Norman exhumed the body of his mother as an apology for murdering her and brought her back to life in his mind by taking on her personality. In the end we see her personality wins over Norman’s, but he changes her drastically from murderess to someone who would not even harm a fly when he fully adapts her personality.

Bloch’s brilliance is effortlessly shown in his ability to carry out this complicated plot without losing the reader or losing the story. He shows Norman as a repressed, abused, outcast and that creates sympathy because even if Norman is not likeable, he is relatable in some way. Norman was suffocated and possessed by his mother.

“Mothers sometimes are overly possessive, but not all children allow themselves to be possessed.” –Bloch, Psycho

Norman even mentions the Oedipus complex in the book. We may never know how far the abuse went, but Bloch creates a solid foundation for a number of theories. My favorite Bloch quote is "Horror is the removal of masks."

And at the end of the day, Bloch shows us what was behind Norman’s mask.

“Funny how we take it for granted that we know all there is to know about another person, just because we see them frequently or because of some strong emotional tie.” –Bloch, Psycho