Frederick Clegg – A Study in Psychopathy

The following sample essay is about Frederick Clegg – A Study in Psychopathy. To read the introduction, body, and conclusion of the essay, scroll down.

Throughout the whole book Frederick enjoys his solitariness which occurred due to his unnatural upbringing. Fredericks was guided through life by his uncle whom he unfeignedly adored and who has become his religious life leader. Frederick profoundly suffered after his decease and didn’t manage to construct such strong relationships that he used to hold earlier. Frederick has many psychological drawbacks.

Since his childhood. he has been let down and abandoned several times: My male parent was killed drive. I was two. … He was rummy. but Aunt Annie ever said it was my female parent that drove him to imbibe.

They ne’er told me what truly happened. but she went away shortly after and left me with Aunt Annie. she merely wanted an easy clip. [ … ] I don’t attention now. if she is still alive. I don’t want to run into her.

I’ve got no involvement. [ … ] So I was brought up by Aunt Annie and Uncle Dick with their girl Mabel. Truly. these instances of decease and forsaking have influenced him radically. One can easy say that he is feared to be re-abandoned and this is a ground why he doesn’t want to put on the line the option that Miranda wantonnesss him when she is ill. That’s why. Frederick chooses to reject the medical intervention.

Surely. he would be accused and imprisoned if she would state person about the snatch.

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but due to the fact that he does non show any fright of being imprisoned. it is more likely that he is more frightened of solitariness. Probably the two frights are someway connected. which is why Frederick refuses to supply Miranda with medical aid. His unequal behaviour clearly demonstrates his psychopathologic personal traits. In fact. Frederick is holier-than-thou individual and prig. While looking at other people he experiences antipathy because the manner they communicate. form their day-to-day life and accept him make non co-occur with his universe position.

Frederick is excessively lazy to make anything to alter this state of affairs. He keeps distance with his colleagues and ignores everything which is non included in his life. It can be noticed from the first page that Frederick is rather unusual immature chap who perceives environing environment in negativeness. Due to the fact the he was brought up in a little town sing the deficiency of comfort. cognition. and opportunities. he became unable to see true human feelings like understanding. and forfeit.

If Frederick Clegg had been a existent figure. he would hold been diagnosed with the following psychopathologic symptoms:
• Sex life impersonal. fiddling. and ill integrated: Frederick’s sexual relationships with Miranda could hold been developed faster and more fruitfully if merely he had non been so disabled. He treated Miranda as an object and his absolute ownership holding ruling behaviour instead than holding equal relationships individual with distinguishable societal purposes and demands.
• Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal dealingss

Emotional coldness and neutrality in unrelated to his lifestyle events and impressions are common to people with certain psychological upsets due to the fact that they are narrowly oriented on one individual person/object/notion.
• Pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love From the point of position of psychological science and psychopathy the lone one individual genuinely and profoundly adored by Frederick is he himself. Having higher precedence set of his ain actions. he therefore unfeignedly justified his right to have premium quality relationships. attitudes. and life in general.

• Poor judgement and failure to larn by experience Frederick is characterized by holding irrational thought and inability to analyse and therefore right his behaviour.
• Inadequately motivated antisocial behaviour Some medical research workers and analysts have applied the impression of religious. psychological. and societal self-destruction in instance with Frederick.
• Lack of compunction and shame Absence of sorrow. sorrow. or embarrassment emerges from his entire assurance in the soundness of his actions. ideas. and purposes.
• Undependability

Failure to set up healthy relationships with psychologically equal people consequences in his inability to map as a dependable individual.
• Absence of jitteriness or psychoneurotic manifestations Frederick’s instance is different from any other psychological upset such as mental cases. aggressive sexual behaviour. etc. ( Mossen 44 ) . Clegg possesses these psychopathologic personality traits because he cares small about others. A figure of medical analysts claim that Frederick Clegg should be considered to be psychopath instead than sociopath.

The difference between these two impressions is reflected in the fact that sociopathy develops from negative sociological factors like low societal position. fiscal non-satisfaction. and illegal environment. while mental illness is ingenerate disease being nurtured by impulsivity. high/low intelligence. and failure to accept societal norms and by and large set up behavioural regulations. He is so selfish he can’t accept any rejections which can be understood from his attitude towards Miranda. The phrase ‘she was mine’ explains everything he felt for Miranda whom he treats merely like one of his butterflies that has to be taken attention of.

After he captures the miss he is overwhelmed by the mind-bending feeling for possessing what he has cherished such a long clip. . Frederick may be emotionally and sexually described as holding entire deficiency of sexual attractive force. ‘ A statement made by Frederick right after Miranda’s decease explains much of himself in footings of his mentally unhealthy character: “I idea I was moving for the best and within rights” . First of all. Frederick didn’t have good purposes. Although Frederick did non see Miranda’s disease to be true for the first twosome of yearss. and even after it appeared to be such he didn’t start looking for aid.

This proves that he was non moving within his rights. Besides. the fact of nobbling itself is far from being human and can non be justified. This statement demonstrates the absolute egocentricity and ferociousness of Frederick. It would besides be appropriate to observe that he was repeatedly handling Miranda as his invitee. It is the grounds of unhealthy Frederick’s character as Miranda is forced to pass clip at his topographic point instead than volunteering sing him. All of these things. every bit good as assorted others contribute to a crisp audience response that makes the subject of the narrative become more apparent. ( Holland 97 ) .

Sarcasm may besides be noticed in the issue of freedom associating Frederick and Miranda “relationships” . In fact. Miranda is kept locked. nevertheless. it does non intend that she is limited in her head and psyche. Frederick’s head degree is really limited. he is close to anyone else’s thoughts which can be seen from his inability to acknowledge and understand Miranda’s attractive force to art. One more important treatment traveling on in the narrative was the conversation about the book ‘The backstop in the rye. ‘ Frederick fails to understand the significance as he perceives it as a muss and doesn’t like the manner the chief character negotiations in it.

It set a graphic contrast with Miranda and illustrates to what extent she is free regardless of the fact of her imprisonment. She is eager to larn everything new that surrounds her. She is an open-minded lady and her accomplishment to deeply interpret others’ idea and feelings are based on her ain thought and analysis. ( Nicklette 87 ) . Frederick is a character with small cognition of what love and human relationships are. That’s why he does non cognize what he truly wants from relationships with the miss. What he strives for is lucidity. excellence and exceptionality:

“I ever thought of her like that. I mean words like elusive and sporadic. and really refined – non like the other 1s. even the pretty 1s. ” As indicated above. it is wholesome and perfect love that Frederick strives for. He rejects females who have had active sexual life and is ever disgusted by them. His “perfect match” is “pure” merely as he considers himself. Here he reveals what in mental illness is called grandiose sense of flawlessness. ( Mossen 1995 ) . He picks a cocotte. and explains his sexual inability by stating that the female was non compatible with his fanciful adult female:

“I was excessively nervous. I tried to be as if I knew all about it and of class she saw. she was old and she was atrocious. atrocious. I mean. both in the foul manner she behaved and in expressions. She was worn. common” . This statement does non merely show Frederick’s thought of what existent adult females should be like. but it besides opens his low assurance. Throughout the narrative. the audience can experience Fredericks’s lower status composite and with the illustration of what Frederick thinks of Miranda’s environing environment:

“The merely times I didn’t have nice dreams about her being when I saw her with a certain immature adult male. a loud noisy public-school type who had a athleticss car” . It is obvious that he is covetous of the “young adult male with a athleticss car” . non merely because of Miranda. but besides because he does non belong to the upper crust of the society. In his storytelling. Frederick states that he people from the upper category disgust him: I remember a dark we went out and had supper at a posh eating house [ … ] Everything in the room seemed to look down at us because we weren’t brought up their manner.

[ … ] If you ask me. London’s all arranged for the people who can move like public schoolboys. and you don’t acquire anyplace if you don’t have the mode born and the right grandiose voice – I mean rich people’s London. the West End. of class. ” There is besides some look “la-di-da” that is oftentimes used by Frederick. Oxford English Dictionary Online states that “la-di-da” bases for “A gibelike term for one who affects breeding ; a ‘swell’” . He besides addresses upper crust work forces as “public schoolboys” . and typically continues by exemplifying them as loud. stupid and narcissistic.

It would be appropriate to observe how Frederick at the beginning does non look to take Miranda as a lady from the upper crust. but subsequently on he changes his head: “Of class it was really educated. but it wasn’t grandiose. it wasn’t slimy. she didn’t implore the coffin nails or similar demand them. she merely asked for them in an easy manner and you didn’t have any category feeling” . At the beginning this is the manner he describes Miranda and. in this instance. her voice. After Miranda’s decease. Frederick says: “I ought to hold seen that I could ne’er acquire what I wanted from person like Miranda. with all her grandiose thoughts and clever tricks” .

Apparently. Frederick’s feelings for Miranda have changed. He eventually is able to understand the societal difference between Miranda and him. and its importance. but non until merely before Miranda dies: “There was ever category between us” . Due to his low societal background. Frederick can non truly see himself as person mounting upwards on societal ladder after he has won some money. His inability to accept of upper crust behaviour has really strong roots in his caput. When Miranda pushes him to donate money to charity. he refuses. and expresses openly what he thinks about this thought:

“I know rich people give amounts. but in my sentiment they do it to acquire their names published or to dodge the tax-man” . When Frederick refers to people of the upper crust. he has a really misanthropic sentiment. Both Frederick and Miranda stay wholly the same as the secret plan moves frontward. although sometimes Miranda seems to be instead inactive in development. There can be found instead clear markers in the novel that demonstrates a development. particularly in the instance of Frederick. At the beginning. he is shown as an inexperienced person. naif immature chap who is slightly socially stray.

( Russel 129 ) . Frederick has a really romantic position of love and relationships at that clip. the type of romantic love we can read about in books. for case. in Romeo and Juliet: “I can’t say what it was. the really first clip I saw her. I knew she was the lone 1. [ … ] I used to hold reveries about her. I used to believe of narratives where I met her. did things she admired. married her and all that. Nothing awful. that was ne’er until what I’ll explain later” . Frederick has turned from naif immature chap with low societal accomplishments to an compulsive. hardhearted consecutive slayer.

Fowles does non province that Frederick will go a consecutive slayer. but the manner he lets Frederick believe about nobbling another immature lady after Miranda’s decease gives the reader the feeling that the narrative has non yet come to an terminal. Nonetheless. Frederick is still really naif when it comes to decease and life. “The Great Beyond” as an parlance for decease suggests a romantic head. but his belief in acetylsalicylic acid as the best manner putting to death him is instead unreasonable.