47 pages • 1 hour read
Robert BlochPsycho
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1959A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Norman Bates
Content Warning: This guide describes and analyzes the source text’s treatment of trauma, abuse, and mental health conditions. The novel contains stigmatizing depictions of cross-dressing and an individual with a mental health condition, which relies on outdated and offensive tropes that connect mental health conditions with violence.
Norman Bates is the proprietor of the Bates Motel, a secluded lodging situated off the main highway somewhere on the outskirts of the fictional town of Fairvale. He is a quiet and unassuming individual, awkward, though polite. While Hitchcock's portrayal of Norman, played by Anthony Perkins, dominates the image of this character in popular culture, Bloch’s Norman is very different: plump, middle-aged, and bespectacled. Norman has deep-seated mental health problems stemming from his complex relationship with his oppressive mother, Norma Bates. Much of the novel concerns itself with Psychoanalyzing Norman Bates in an attempt to explain or understand his violent behavior and delusions. However, it is important to note that Bloch’s psychanalysis does not align with modern standards or understandings of mental health. Modern psychological study disproves the connection Bloch suggests between violent behavior and mental health conditions, however; people with mental health conditions much more often experience violent crime than they commit it.
Norman is arguably the novel’s main protagonist, though he functions more as an antihero because he is also the antagonist of the story. Norman struggles with his mental health, suspecting himself of having some schizoaffective disorder. His mental health condition resembles dissociative identity disorder, as he experiences frequent blackouts, or fugue states, during which an alternate personality emerges. Norman’s conflicting personas embody the theme of The Duality of Human Nature, which suggests that people can never really know other people, or possibly even themselves. Anyone can harbor dark or violent impulses deep down, hidden by a façade of ordinariness. Closely connected is the theme of Shame and Repression. As Norma, Norman’s behavior reflects the warped sense of right and wrong that his mother instilled in him. For example, his shame and disgust over his mother’s sexual relationship with her lover, Joe Considine, leads him to murder them both after walking in on them having sex. The resulting shock is so great that Norman's personality fractures, illustrating the danger of repressed emotion.
Mary Crane
Though Norman murders Mary Crane early in Psycho, the novel’s plot revolves around her. At the beginning of the novel, Bloch appears to set Mary up as a main character, giving details about her appearance, background, motivations, and goals. Mary is a complex, round character, and her death comes as a shock because her story—about an ill-conceived theft for love—suggests momentum. Her murder cuts that momentum short, and Bloch demonstrates that anything can happen in this story. Mary’s death drives the other characters’ actions throughout the rest of the plot, so even though she is not present, she remains a central figure.
Mary’s story also emphasizes the theme of The Duality of Human Nature. In Mary, Bloch depicts a kind, selfless young woman who sacrifices her youth for her mother and her potential for her sister. Stealing money is out of character for Mary, who herself feels ambivalent about her theft but does it out of desperation and because she otherwise lacks agency. Early on, with Mary, Bloch sets up the duality theme, foreshadowing Norman’s story arc.
Lila Crane
Lila Crane becomes one of the novel’s protagonists following the death of her sister, Mary. Lila is younger than Mary, with lighter hair, but they look similar enough for both Sam and Norman to briefly mistake her for her sister. Like Mary, Lila is headstrong and impulsive. However, Lila is more analytic than Mary, possibly because she was able to attend college while Mary cared for their mother. Throughout the investigation, Lila becomes increasingly frustrated with Sam's reticence, Arbogast’s unwillingness to work with law enforcement, and Sheriff Chambers’s unhelpfulness. Lila is the first to suspect that something bad may have happened to Mary, and though she is right, her male allies dismiss her fears and suspicions.
The sister-roommates are close, and that closeness drives much of Lila’s behavior in the novel. For example, Lila recognized the sacrifice that Mary made for her and insisted that Mary go on an extended vacation after their mother died, where Mary met Sam. Further, after having no contact with her sister for a week, Lila drives 18 hours to Fairvale to meet Sam, whom she has never met, on the suspicion that he may know Mary's whereabouts. One of Lila’s major challenges is confronting the fact that her sister stole $40,000 and may not be who she thought. This emphasizes the theme of The Duality of Human Nature. Lila’s arc also illustrates an inverse duality to Norman’s, as her fiery determination belies her great capacity for compassion. By the end of the novel, Lila demonstrates great emotional maturity and compassion, forgiving Norman after hearing his tormented life story. Her forgiveness implies a new understanding that people are a product of their circumstances; like Mary and Norman, sometimes people circumstances drive people to unpredictable behavior, and these lapses in sanity can have disastrous unintended consequences.
Sam Loomis
Sam Loomis becomes one of the novel’s protagonists following the death of his fiancée, Mary Crane. Sam owns of a hardware store in Fairvale, which he inherited, along with significant debt, from his father. A proud man, Sam wants to pay off his father's debts and continue his legacy by keeping the store open. Sam loves Mary, but his pride and devotion to Fairvale will not allow him to marry her until he has paid off his debts. Aside from the cruise, they have only been together one other time, when Mary came up to visit him in Fairvale.
This lack of familiarity exacerbates Sam’s doubt about how well he knew Mary when he learns about Mary’s theft. Illustrating the theme of The Duality of Human Nature, Sam’s understanding of Fairvale is undermined as the truth about Norman Bates reveals itself. Sam has a good reputation and his small town, allowing him to easily enlist Sheriff Chambers in the search for Mary. However, his trust in his fellow townspeople, including Norman, leads him to drop his guard and nearly get Lila killed. Lila sees his mindset as a frustrating example of small-town mentality, and Bloch appears to agree: If Sam had listened to Lila’s intuition, they would have found Mary's killer sooner. Sam takes a great liking to Lila throughout the story, though it is unclear whether this indicates he has romantic feelings for her. Sam relays Norman’s psychological diagnosis from Dr. Steiner to Lila at the end of the novel, claiming not to understand some of the more nuanced psychological terms Steiner used, again linking him to smaller-scale thinking. At the end of the novel, Sam is much more reluctant than Mary to try to forget everything that has happened to them.
