Antisocial Personality Disorder in the Film The Talented Mr. Ripley

Throughout the novel Tom is shown as someone very arrogant and abrupt in the way he talks to people and feels he has the authority to question others in an interrogatory manner. In his first meeting with Nick he

(146) In order to emphasize his humility and goodness, Tom has been cast as a ?one-arm jackleg? (as he so eloquently puts it). He is a carpenter, ably fixing up the Crater property. He performs the miracles of reviving Mrs. Crater?s long-dead Ford (the religious connection reinforced by O?Connor?s characterization of his expression ?as if he had just raised the dead? [151]) and teaching deaf and mute daughter Lucynell to say the word ?bird?. He eschews modern man?s obsession with money and claims that he has a ?moral intelligence? despite his physical shortcomings. By emphasizing his focus on the spiritual nature of life, Tom succeeds in marrying the daughter and receiving money from Mrs. Crater.

Tom is the most important character, yet he is not a flawless figure. Tom is irritated and annoyed easily, impatient and ignorant. His anger is clearly displayed in scenes with Gwen who expresses illiterate and disrespectful comments towards Tom’s family. Tom develops to acquire his own appealing death, during the course of the play. He has been hesitant to speak about his death, as he ignores Meg’s attempt to begin a conversation on the matter: “Are you afraid? / You coming to the concert tonight?”. Gow signifies Tom’s acceptance by giving him King Lear’s lines about crawling towards death.

Antisocial personality disorder is a disregard for others rights and violating theses rights. This disorder starts as a child to people who carry this disorder portray the characteristics of irritability, aggressiveness, lack of remorse, and irresponsibility. A psychopath falls under the umbrella of antisocial personality disorders. A psychopath is a person with a personality disorders which is inherited from their parents at birth. Flashes of these inherited factors show and happen in the child upbringing this includes torture animals at a young age, playing weird dark games as a kid, or ripping heads of toys. A perfect example of a Psychopath is Edmund Kemper. A man who showed his psychopath tendencies at a young age that grew into to him becoming a serial killer.

Antisocial personality disorder is a very common mental disease around the U.S that can be treated, but not cured. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a young girl named Abigail Williams was a seventeen year old “Strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with and endless capacity for dissembling.” (Miller 1130). Throughout the play, Abigail’s personality has been very mean and unpleasant, which has made her full of nothing but worry, apprehension, and propriety (Miller 1130). Her personality change relates to a well-known disorder called Antisocial personality disorder, also known as APD. APD is a mental condition where a person’s “ways of thinking, perceiving situations, and relating to others are dysfunctional--and destructive”(Mayo Staff). Symptoms of this disorder are triggered during early childhood years and are “fully evident for most people during their 20’s and 30’s”(Mayo Staff). APD is a disorder that has symptoms that apply to Abigail because she often lies to people, she has had a hard life at home, and she intimidated people into doing what she wanted them to do.

He too abandons his morals; illegally earning the money that he believes will win back the heart of his lost love Daisy. When they had a love affair long ago, she wouldn't marry him because of his financial standing. The details of his business are sketchy, when asked he usually ignores the question. Tom though, after some investigating finds the true nature of his profession.

The way that Nick describes Tom expresses his dislike for him. He sees him as too arrogant and cruel. In chapter one, its is said that “there were men at New Haven that hated his guts.” (page 7).

Answer: Antisocial Personality Disorder (King, 2016); psychological disorder with the individual possibly having psychopathic tendencies

Throughout the reading, Tom is viewed as an irresponsible husband and father figure because of how he frequently relinquishes his duties as a man. After he gets married to Daisy, they eventually have a daughter. However, due to Tom’s nonchalant nature, he doesn’t feel obliged to handle any responsibilities concerning his marriage. He becomes an alcoholic and he is pictured as a very arrogant man due to his wealth. His cruel nature was depicted by the author when Nick states that “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked—and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts” (Fitzgerald 9). This statement proves how rude Tom was.

The paradox here is that Tom is, in a sense, George himself as Tom's wife, Daisy, is in the process of being taken away from him.

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder frequently commit illegal acts like destroying property, stealing, and harassing others. They often employ manipulation and deceit to obtain profit or pleasure. The criterion of impulsivity is often seen in a lack of planning. In other words, these individuals live in the present, not thinking about the past or future. This is often seen in numerous and sudden job changes, homes, or significant others. They tend to repeatedly fight with others and commit physical assault. A reckless disregard for one’s safety and that of others is often shown by unsafe driving behavior like drunk driving, drug abuse, or high risk sex. Those diagnosed are irresponsible. For example, it is not uncommon to see erratic work history, large gaps in employment (even when employment was readily available), departing a job with no plan to get another, and repeated unexcused absences

After meeting Jim Casy and traveling to California with his family, Tom starts to change his idea of see others and the world. Well walking to his father’s house, Tom encounters Jim Casy a former preacher he knew. Tom takes a break and they catch up with what is going on with their lives. This is one of the first examples of how Tom is starting to be more social after being in prison for four years. During their talk Casy gives Tom the idea that,”Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of.”(Steinbeck 33) Casy tries to explain to Tom that he believes that everyone in the world are just one big family. This simple idea later makes Tom leave his family so he can go help others in need. Without meeting Casy Tom wouldn’t of become the man we see at the end of the novel. Another example of Tom changing as a character is in chapter 16 where he meets a one eyed mechanic. Tom feels bad for the guy and decides to

The Tom we see in New York is poor, intelligent, clever, and anti-social. He makes his keep by receiving monthly checks from his Aunt Dottie and gets his kick by acting as an income tax collector. The title he receives as "Collector of Internal Revenue" (18) is the first notion of Tom getting off on a false identity. While in New York he gets a break from the filthy lifestyle he's leading. The filth is compiled of the crummy community apartment building and the roommates and residents. "There they all were, mostly Bob's lousy friends, sprawled on his bed, on the floor, everywhere… The slobs he had thought he had left behind" (34). Out of serendipitous circumstances and Tom's clever, quick intelligence, he gains an opportunity to mold himself into a position to receive a free ride to Europe. He plays the part of the friend of Robert (Dickie) Greenleaf while Mr. Greenleaf (Dickie's father) becomes his audience. "Tom went on, getting into the spirit of it. 'Dickie showed me some ship models' … 'Did he ever show you his frame models?' Dickie hadn't, but Tom said brightly, 'yes!'" (14) Impersonations become a constant theme. Starting with the act as an income tax collector to the act as Roberts's friend, these impersonations escalate throughout. The attention seeking pleasure he receives from acting out a false identity ends up not being enough. The beginning of his crime spree and essentially his freedom can be seen in Mongibello, Italy.

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior

Continuously lusting after the ideal lifestyle only obtained by rich men, the people who are considered ‘somebody’, known and loved by everyone. Constantly in his pursuit of the pleasurable life of those, he considers ‘somebody’, consequently weaves a web of lies, dual personas, to multiple people. Since our first impression of Tom has never relived his reality, in his consistent pursuit to be his vision of a ‘somebody’. The question becomes how he is going to succeed in his pursuit of being a ‘somebody’, will he continue being Dickie or Tom, or start over as someone else.