RARA-AVIS: Re: RARA-AVIS The Killer Inside Me

Ed Burgess (eburgess@v2pop.hst.nasa.gov)
Tue, 27 Jan 1998 13:59:13 -0500 Mr. Denton writes,

>I must be missing something here. Why would a vasectomy be performed
>for someone who was tired and on edge? Is the suggestion that he was
>some kind of non-stop masturbator?

My take on this was that Lou was lying to Amy. Lou's father, the
doctor, has given Lou the vasectomy so that the illness, as Lou refers
to it, will stop with Lou. Lou can't say this to Amy, so he makes
something up.

My question is about Lou's self-diagnosis as a paranoid schizophenic.
I'm no phychiatrist, but Lou doesn't feel persecuted or hear voices,
which I think are needed for a diagnosis of schizophenia. Today we
would call him a sociopath, and, IMHO, one of the best depictions of
one to be found in literature. But you guys are much better read in
this field than I, so perhaps you have some others in mind (other than
our next reading, _The Talented Mr. Ripley_, who is also quite a
sociopath).

Ed Burgess, first post to this list
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