This theme is obvious as we monitor the multiple personalities within Norman Bates battle in conflict of each other. What is less obvious is that this theme is also imbedded throughout other parts of this film.
For Norman, it is a constant struggle for him to see the good above the bad, because as it was revealed in the end, his mother's personality is inside of him. In the above clip, we see the actual Norman, describing how hard it is for him to contain mother, or his "bad" side. Because he has morphed her persona into an murderer. For Norman, this makes it difficult for him to fight off the urges that are formed from his mothers "jealousy". When his mother comes through, I believe this is when he choses the bad over the good.
This theme is seen earlier in the movie when Marion Crane decides to steal the 40,000 dollars for herself. She continues to have thoughts to herself about whether it was a good decision. This decision to steal the money was an example of the bad inside of her taking over, in a less extreme way than in Normans case. The good inside her finally comes out when she makes the decision to return to her life before she goes into the shower. It just so happens that she never has the chance to actually persue her new plan.
Are there any other moments where the good and bad are in conflict within the characters?
I think Marion Crane copes with good and bad as well. This central conflict seems to be reflected in her costuming first in the opening scene and then in the scene where she packs to leave.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post and I think you brought up a lot of good points that we haven't heard in class already. I agree, I think that both Marion and Norman both dealt with a great deal of good and bad conflict. I think that a lot of other characters experienced good and bad things and went through thought processes. To be more clear, an example is the detective. He obviously wanted to crack the case, which is good for the purpose of being a hero and serving his community justice. But the bad was being killed by Norman.
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