Re: RARA-AVIS: The Talented Mr. Ripley

From: Patrick King ( abrasax93@yahoo.com)
Date: 06 Apr 2007


Miker, you don't have to be drooling and raving to be insane! Because Ripley has a unique talent for masking his mental problems, does not dismiss them. I have read all the Ripley books, but even in the first one, Ripley's complete lack of conscience and empathy, his ability to lie bold faced to people who have been extremely kind and helpful to him, his homocidal rages, give every indication of his mental state. Do you think Bugsy Seigal or Whitey Bulger are sane just because they were clever at playing politics? If you do murder to solve your problems, you are not sane whether you're in a mob or an individual. All mobs are is group psychosis. That's why they're so dangerous. Even if you live a perfectly ordinary life but fund it by anti-social behavior, especailly murder for hire, is full evidence of decreased mental facility.

Patrick King
--- Michael Robison < miker_zspider@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Patrick King wrote:
>
> Ripley may be a genius, but he is absolutely insane.
>
> ************
> Judging from your post, I'd say that you might be
> extrapolating your insanity charge from a
> combination
> of several in the series. You've got me at a
> disadvantage there. I was speaking from the context
> of just the one book. There were hints in that
> direction, the panic attacks, the often inadequate
> and
> distant relationships, and the consummate way in
> which
> he assumes Dickie's identity. But for the most part
> Ripley seems rational, his assessment of people and
> himself on target, and his motives for murder
> primarily aimed at a pragmatic solution to his
> desire
> to live well without having to work for it.
>
> miker
>
>
>
>
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