Mental Illness In John Capote's '1984'

Mental Illness has been prevalent all throughout our history from Isaac Newton to Abraham Lincoln to Sylvia Plath and so on. These illnesses can be as minor as a slight bipolar disorder or as severe as schizophrenia. In recent years, mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent in our criminal justice systems than anywhere else. Mental illness is becoming an association with crime and based on the information that has been found, this paper will attempt to further define the problem of mental illness within our criminal justice system and offer alternatives or insights as to how to possibly help with this problem.

Capote manages to impress Perry Smith by making us feel sympathy for him in his writing. The perry we know he has most likely killed someone before and later goes on and kills the Clutters. When we hear this breathtaking information we start to feel like Perry isn’t necessarily the good guy in this novel he might just be as worse as Dick is. Later in the text on pages 110 to 113 we learn about Perry’s past and his true family. We digest that he had two sisters and two brothers and one of his sisters as quoted in the text “Fern, the other daughter, jumped out of a window of a San Francisco hotel” (Capote 110).

Illness is one of the few experiences that all humans have in common and generally is met with empathy. However, people who suffer from mental illness are not privy to this treatment. For centuries, mental disorders have been demonized and stigmatized even in the modern era where humans have a much better understand of the mechanisms of the mind. Before the advent of psychiatry in the eighteenth-century people believed that mental illness was actually demonic possession resulting in the ostracization and murder of the mentally ill in the name of God. The Victorian era was met with a different view of mental illness, in that it was understood that it was a malady of the mind and people needed constant medical treatment, thus federally mandated asylums were created. Since mental illness was not understood there was a lot of misconceptions and fear surrounding the field. It is no surprise that the master of macabre and the creator of Horror, Edgar Allen Poe, decided to explore themes of mental illness in his stories. Poe’s most famous story about mental illness was The Fall of the House of Usher, where the main characters are plagued with an undisclosed mental malady. Through Poe’s use of point of view, style, tone, and tropes, he painted a perfect picture of the Victorian view of the mentally ill and the mind of the artist which was believed to be different faces of the same coin.

There are some differences between a normal criminal and a criminal that suffers from a mental illness in the criminal justice system. For example one of the many fundamentals to our criminal justice system is the principle that no one can be tried or adjudged to punishment while mentally incompetent. Trials for mentally unstable people have been modified and are run by different guidelines. Unlike a regular convict, most mentally unstable convicts are unable to comprehend or are unable to complete a trial. Once a convict with a mental illness is convicted or awaiting trail their every medical need must be accommodated within the faculty and it's staff. Without the proper medical care a person with mental illness can become

The social structure of George Orwell’s 1984 is based on Freud’s map of the mind and the struggles between the id, the ego and the super ego. The minds of these individuals living in this society are trained to think a certain way. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis can be applied to Orwell’s 1984. Using Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, 1984’s main character Winston Smith is portrayed as the one who goes against the ideas of the Party. In a Freudian point of view, Winston’s character represents a mind where the id is the driving force and where the ego and superego are ill developed in the views of the Party. Freud describes the psychoanalytic process as something that is normally used to treat patients with

George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 cautions against government having too much/excessive amount of power. Winston Smith lives in a society where a totalitarian government tracks their citizen's every move through telescreens and thought police. The government is divided among the four ministries; the Ministry of Love, Peace, Plenty, and Truth. The excessive censorship in the society leads the citizens to be less individualistic and more alike to one another. Being in an environment where Newspeak is enforced, citizens are unable to express their originality. Orwell's 1984 is a very effective cautionary tale through its characterization of Winston who lacks heroic characteristics, its conflict of man vs society, and its use of dialect.

In Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith commit a murder of all four Clutter family members with no apparent motive. They go all over the United States running from the authorities, while also passing bad checks. They are later caught in Las Vegas and sentenced to death row by a jury comprised of family men that were associated with the Clutter’s. Many years go by before they are hung on April 14, 1965. Considering that Perry Smith had many mental problems that most likely have developed from his early childhood, he should be tried with his disorders in mind and given psychiatric care.

Lastly, the third rhetorical persuasive appeal of pathos will be explored. Pathos appeals to the audience's emotions and how might they positively agree with the speaker's arguments. In order to understand Winston’s nature the party watched him for many years. They even went as far as to allow him to commit thoughtcrimes- an Orwellian term for holding beliefs that contradict or doubt the party. Examples of this being Winston’s visits to the antique shop, writing in his diary, and any other act of rebellion against Big Brother. To summarize, if logos and ethos are to deal with the mind- then pathos could be said to be more a matter of the heart. Winston realizes this, months after his torture and imprisonment: “He obeyed the Party, but he still hated the Party. In the old days he had hidden a heretical mind beneath an appearance of conformity. Now he had retreated a step further: in the mind he had surrendered, but he had hoped to keep the inner heart inviolate.” (Orwell 280) Despite that externally he obeyed the party-Winston did not resign his inner spirit and rebellion. Which, is not enough, for O’Brien or the party. For this reason, pathos becomes the last step to complete Winston's brainwashing. Henceforth, O’Brien targets the prior relationships he cultivated before his imprisonment. The party’s main aim is to foster hate and mistrust among individuals, especially families- so the only figure or thing they can turn to for love or comfort is Big Brother. Such notions in

Besides family and social abusive, Capote uses mental disability as the most powerful reason to defend Perry against the death penalty. Capote shows the beginning of Perry’s mental illness with his aversion to nuns, God, and Religion, and how he realizes the evil side of people around him (Capote 154). Perry’s mental disorder gets worse when he threw a man he had never seen before into the river in Japan (Capote 185). His signs of severe mental illness clearest shown in the night he killed four lives of the Clutter. Capote uses details such as, the blanket under Mr. Herbert’s body and the pillow under Kenyon’s head to show that Perry’s mental was unstable when he attacked the Clutter family because no criminal would care if the victims feel

In the novel 1984 the author, George Orwell, tells us a story about Winston rebellion against the Party by having a secret relationship with Julia. They found a hiding place in Mr. Charrington’s building, by which they spend months together. Being unaware that there was a telescreen hidden they were found and imprisoned in the Ministry of Love. In a chapter of the novel, Julia and Winston experience a rocket bomb giving him the impression that she was dead.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental condition that ails soldiers and civilians alike who have been unfortunate enough to endure terrifying life harrowing experiences. Those who experience this disorder are prone to pejorative flashbacks to the time of the incident that triggered the neurological disorder. Most soldiers are capable of withstanding the withering physiological strain of combat, however a growing portion of people exposed to the graphic belligerence of war are prone to PTSD. In the novel 1984, George Orwell writes on multiple occasions of graphic war depictions and human pain. Having served in the Spanish Civil War, Orwell was exposed to violent reactions long before PTSD was officially diagnosed or

There are some key, unique approaches to mental illness that have been inculcated into the theme of the film. One of these, and most probably the most potent, is the issue of questioning the true existence of mental illness. On repeated occasions, Susanna questions the true validity of her diagnosis. Even at the end of the film, she still questions the effectiveness of her treatment

Mental health is still an issue that many americans face every day, both physically and mentally, many people don’t get the help that they need. In the story “About Russell”, Russell changes dramatically throughout the story. In the story, Russell has a mental disorder that makes him behave differently from his normal self, though never diagnosed by a doctor, Russell probably had something similar to a split personality that has messed with his mind that causes him to act differently than normal. In the story, Russell would become a solitary person, he would spend a lot of time by himself in peace and quiet. Russells personality changes at a flip of a coin, he can be happy and very expressive at one moment, and then silent and serious at the

Healing is described as making someone physically, emotionally, or spiritually healthy to better their whole self. In George Orwell’s 1984 Winston Smith is described as mentally insane and must be healed to become sane once again. His lover Julia helps him to withstand the change due to their love. Also, his torturer O'Brien pushes the idea of his unhealthy mental state challenging Winston’s mind. Finally, his own self is responsible for his healing process.

Mental disorder: any of a broad range of medical conditions that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause marked distress or disability and that are typically associated with a disruption in normal thinking (Merriam-Webster). Mental disorders affect thousands of people, and are common across their respective spectrums. Even close analysis of books show characters with varying degrees of mental disorders. Such as is the case of some of the characters in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Upon close inspection of the more prominent characters’ interactions and behaviors, startling correlations can be made to serious psychological disorders. The entire farm is a psychiatric facility without adequate supervision(as Jones the farmer was expelled from said farm as the beginning of the rebellion).