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.
Essay Topics
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contains stigmatizing depictions of cross-dressing and an individual with a mental health condition, which relies on outdated and offensive tropes that connect mental health conditions with violence.
To what degree is Norman responsible for his actions in Psycho? To what extent is Norman, like Mary and Arbogast, a victim of his circumstances? Support your argument with examples from the text.
How does the novel’s nonlinear structure increase the suspense? How do the parallel, alternating plots centering on Sam, Lila, Norman, and Norma impact the way the story unfolds?
How does Mary and Lila’s attitude toward small-town life compare to Sam, Norman, and Sheriff Chambers’s? How do those differing attitudes inform the action?
To what extent does the line “I think perhaps all of us go a little crazy at times” (36) inform the central plot of Psycho? To what extent does this provide an insight into characters other than Norman?
How does Lila contrast with her sister, Mary? What do her interactions with Sam and Arbogast suggest about female agency in the novel?
How does Bloch obscure the novel’s twists throughout the novel? What narrative techniques does he use to set up the reveals? Use examples from the text to support your argument.
What does Bloch reveal about Norma Bates in the novel? How much of her characterization is based on Norman’s perception of her? How does she influence Norman, both in life and in death?
To what extent does Mary’s character parallel Norman’s? How are they different? How does Mary exemplify the theme of The Duality of Human Nature?
Research dissociative identity disorder. How does the depiction of Norman’s personality disorder compare to modern understandings of the illness? How might a version of Psycho written with this understanding in mind differ from this novel?
At the end of the novel, Norman’s case causes a frenzy of rumors and speculation in Fairvale, both among the public and the media. What does Bloch’s depiction of these events suggest about his view of such public interest? How does this connect with the American public’s general obsession with true crime?
