Dilek Çalişkan
Anadolu
University, Turkey
Abstract
Soul/Mate written in 1989
by Joyce Carol Oates under the pseudonym Rosamond Smith, centers on a
28-year-old murderous psychopath Colin Asch and his obsession with a double, an
alter ego—a beautiful “ pure “ 39 year-old widow named Dorethea Deverell. When
Colin meets her unexpectedly at a dinner party, he becomes obsessed with
Dorethea ”as given by God” and considers her his soul mate, “lacking a soul” he
dedicates his life to her welfare whereby he wishes to complete himself. Ironically, Dorethea has to be awakened
to her own condition as she is reluctant
to take responsibility both as a woman and as an art historian in the
capitalist society that is symbolized by the psychopath Colin and Dorethea his
double. In this novel Oates uses psychopathology as a metaphor for the
invisible harm that the society and the individual is subjected to as the term
itself is problematic. Invisible crimes are comitted in the society by
respectable members whereas psychopaths are easy suspects. Ironically,
psychopaths are not always criminals. The idea of “success” and the “American
Dream” make competition a necessity such it becomes impossible to recognize
psychopathic doctors, lawyers,
respectable fathers or bossess, who have position and power in the
society. This article will explore the relation between psychopathology and
crime in the light of R.D. Laing’s view of society and madness and Cleckley’s
and Hare’s view of psychopathology.
Keywords: Double, Psychopath, Crime, R.D: Laing,
Cleckley, Hare.
No comments:
Post a Comment