Conceptualize a world in which you have no conscience, no feelings of guilt or remorse -no matter what actions you take- no sense of empathy or concern of the well being of friends, loved ones, or even family members. This is the world of a sociopath. This is the world of Tom Ripley in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. Tom develops into an intelligent young man who eventually conjures a crime spree in Europe. His driving force behind this spree, though the spree may be sporadic, is freedom. His ability to be independent from a guilty conscience and the pleasure from concealing a false identity (characteristics of a sociopath) are his motives behind his acquisition for freedom. We do not know much about Tom’s childhood; …show more content…
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. Not only does
One the biggest flaws of Tom’s is that he makes horrible decisions. At the beginning of the book he has borrowed many thousands of dollars from mob bosses around the New York area and now they are trying to kill him. "Of course they found you, you idiot! What do you think this is— Manila? You can't just walk away with $100,000 of the mob's money and expect to live happily ever after.” (Dekker 25). His life is quite messed up. He is an unsuccessful author and lives
Tom the old, ignorant man, who was born wealthy, with slave owners as his ancestors, he thinks he can do what he wants when he wants, just because he has money. for an example when him and Myrtle (Wilson's wife) whom Tom is having an affair with; She was saying "Daisy, Daisy, Daisy." Tom told her "Don't ever say that." Myrtle didn't listen, and Tom being the ignorant man he is, slapped her.
“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
Tom is old money which means he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth meaning he has always had a lot of money and it affects how he sees others
Our conscience is the indicator into what we think and the actions that follow our thinking process. It acts as a guide into different paths of behaviors, such as wrong and right. Sociopaths lack a conscience, have a personality disorder, and act uncontrollably in extreme, and violent behaviors when in encountered in unappealing situations. As “4% of people are sociopaths-1 in 25 people.”(10) Many sociopaths have the tendency to murder and harm others without feeling remorse for their actions. Martha Stout, the author of The Sociopath Next Door, really digs deep into the conscience of sociopaths and their cycle of thinking through many studies.
He is an example of old money, and because he is so rich he decides that he can break all the rules and do whatever he pleases, like cheating on his wife. "'Why -' she said slowly, 'Tom's got some woman in New York.'" (19). (wanting, more than anything else, to buy and own lots of nice things) has gotten to Tom's head and he believes just because he has so much wealth he can buy happiness with anything that he pleases.
Tom continues his disloyal acts throughout the novel. Tom admits his own disloyalty when he confesses “Once in awhile I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself” (Fitzgerald 119). Tom acknowledges his disloyalty to his marriage by openly saying to all that he goes off and does what he wants despite his vows. Now that his affair is known by others, they understand that Tom’s lies and affairs are a direct effect of his immorality. Tom’s pride contributes to his imminent loss of morality. He displays his pride when he suspects that Gatsby is a “newly rich… bootlegger” (Fitzgerald 107). When Tom discovers the fact that Gatsby used to be poor and acquired his fortune by bootlegging, he becomes furious that Daisy would leave him for someone that at a time was penniless. Tom’s pride makes him see himself as a superior being because he is rich and always has been, seeing those who are poor, or used to be, as inferior scum. Tom’s ideology and belief that how much money one has is what defines them as a person is leading him on a path that will
Lambert at this point in the movie has completely lost her composer and is lost in fear and clouded with terror which is why Ripley is such a complex character she too is a women but doesn’t let her fear control her. She on the contrary is in charge, she is the one who overlooks everything and takes the initiative to be the leader of her crew. When it comes to taking charge she falls in comfortably and went from following protocol to fight or flight. In the face of danger people all react differently and in this case Ripley turned into a leader who is noble and gives clear messages and commands.
There is no remorse in a wild animal. A sociopath is defined as someone antisocial and with no moral conscience (Dictionary.com). Sociopaths are found commonly amongst politicians and businessmen. In the film "Window of Opportunity", we are introduced to Roger, a sociopath businessman. This paper will examine the character from the film, Roger, along with two other sociopaths, Marge Schott and Vince McMahon (Joeseph 2015).
A sociopath, by definition, is a person who is extremely antisocial and lacks conscience. Eastwood’s character demonstrates these attributes with his cruel and unusual actions. However, strangely enough, he becomes the moral center as the movie progresses and gives the people of Lago to choose to use their conscience. He allows the townspeople to choose from their corrupted state to something better. Still, this character shows his sociopathic tendencies in the first fifteen minutes of the movie, when the Stranger raped a townswoman, Callie.
In today’s society, sociopaths frequently play a big role in the business/political world. Sociopaths are people with personality disorders, who are usually charming, and have poor judgment (M. E. Thomas). Sociopaths usually are not able to tell right from wrong (LoveToKnow Corp). The film Window Of Opportunity, written and directed by Samuel Joseph, had a great example of what a sociopath would be like. The character Roger Sizemore in this film is a sociopath who believes he is the greatest due to the amount of money he has. This paper will describe the film and why the character Roger has sociopathic behaviors, and compare him to Bernie Madoff and Fred Goodwin.
Tom first introduces himself as Dickie when he arrives at the airport in Italy and runs into another American named Meredith. While Meredith knows of Dickie, she does not know him so this is an opportunity for Tom to strike up a relationship with her. Upon meeting Dickie, Tom tries to get close to him. He studies Dickie, his mannerisms, his handwriting, his interests, and the way he speaks. All, so he could pretend to be him.
Tom fears that his own kind will be overrun by others, such as dreamers like Gatsby. Tom hides “behind his wealth” (Pidgeon 179) and “leave others to clean up [his] messes” (Pidgeon 180). Tom’s arrogance and racism help create his character and establish his place in the society. Tom’s personality depicts his cruel ways of protecting the old money’s ways of life from the new money people. He considers himself above of everyone else.
We’re introduced to Tom as the ideal young man, talented on piano, prestigious schooling, engaged, his first major deceit. Worked his way into the graces of Mr. Greenleaf, entrusting him to pay for a free trip to Italy, to persuade his son to return home. Forming a naive trust with a stranger based on assumptions of similar status, convicted Tom would be a good influence on his son. Therefore, he and Tom appear to hold the same socially acceptable values and interest, while in reality being a hotel boy working to make ends-meat, living in a basement apartment. To be the polite boy of a good family, set to take over the family business and find a nice girl to marry. Until he encounters Dickie, given his life before is further seduction into his lifestyle, Because of money and status, Dickie is able to do as he pleases, including cheating on Marge, with whomever he wants. Having no concern for money, with an abundance of money comes the carefree life, hence Tom’s ease to gain both the Greenleafs’ trust.
The themes of desire and identity are commonly seen throughout films and novels through different storylines. However in some stories these themes have a particular significance in the texts influencing the way the story is portrayed, and the way the audience understands the messages trying to come across. Some of the films that hold these themes of desire and identity are The Talented Mr Ripley, Mean Girls, Wolf of Wall Street, and Catch me if you can.