FREE ESSAY ON ANATOMY OF A PSYCHOPATH

ANATOMY OF A PSYCHOPATH

In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.
--Christopher Morley
Almost every person has a preconception of the darkest form of humanity: evil. One German
film exemplifies this classic struggle of right and wrong, while addressing deeper
emotional messages. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was made in 1919 and directed by Robert
Weine. The film features a character named Francis, the protagonist, who seeks revenge
against Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist, Cesare, whom he believes murdered his friend.
In one specific scene, Cesare attempts to kill a beautiful woman named Jane, Francis's
fiancee coincidentally, at Caligari's request. Judging by Cesare's previously witnessed
brutal and robotic nature, it is assumed that as he creeps up to her gentle sleeping body
that her time has expired. Magically, he cannot commit the deed. Overcome with affection,
he instead lovingly reaches to cradle her head. She awakens, screams, and struggles.
Cesare snaps out of his funk and overtakes her, eventually escaping with her on his back.
This intense scene conveys the message that even the darkest forms of evil are not
completely devoid of humanity, giving the audience the faintest glimmer of hope that good
can always shine through malevolence.
Cesare has no mind of his own; rather he is the puppet of the sinister Dr. Caligari. This
is strikingly obvious just before the attack on Jane. As Cesare slinks down the corridor
to the bedchamber his movements are awkward and unnatural, similar to puppet's movements.
At one point he even pauses, as if to mentally rethink the plan for murder Caligari has
laid down. This attention to said murder agenda points that normal people can be highly
susceptible to perform evil deeds. In essence, Cesare is not an evil person, but one who
has been mentally dominated by the evil Caligari. One could play a contemporary
television therapist and venture to state that Cesare is the victim in all of this. In
fact, Cesare the sleepwalking killer never existed before Caligari came into place. One
can therefore also determine that evil spawns more evil.
Kindness and humanity always find a way to shine through the depths of rage and hate.
Poised in a striking position, primed to kill, something inside Cesare snaps. He is
rendered momentarily immobile, unable to perform the deed he has been commanded. Love (or
at least pity) has finally surfaced! As they say, music soothes the savage beast. It
appears as if beauty soothes the savage killer as well. Perhaps the human in Cesare has
finally awoken after years of slumber, for he is incapable of killing the helpless Jane.
This breakdown of evil is evident in other sources, most notably Fritz Lang's M. Peter
Lorre's character, a murderer, has yet another victim well in his clutches. However, a
change of heart beckons his decision to let the girl free. As in Caligari, these movies
help to quell one of humanity's greatest fears, at least temporarily: the fact that evil
is absolute and unquestionably brutal by nature. If only the corporate world would
practice the sparse compassion of these villains, perhaps the public opinion of big
business would not be so bleak.
Unfortunately, the reprise of feeling does not last long. Overcome by tenderness, yet
thriving to expedite more death, Cesare cannot keep from his dark deeds. After cradling
her head softly, one of the few displays of outward affection in the entire film, the
moment abruptly shatters as Jane awakes. It is debatable whether or not he would have
left her unharmed had she not awakened, but the fact that she wakes destroys any hope of
escape. At this sign of struggle, the moment of tenderness is but a memory, and Cesare is
once again the slave of Dr. Caligari. At this point the film footage itself ends, and it
is time to attempt to piece together what is not explicitly stated on screen.
The scene abounds with commentary pertinent to both the film and society. First of all,
the fact that evil can be conditioned is a scary thought indeed. It was this line of
thinking that led to the red scare of the 1950s in the United States. We were afraid that
the enemy was brainwashing our citizens, but more frightening, re-assimilating them in
our society to corrupt others. In fact, mental power is a well-researched issue,
particularly in Eastern Europe. The powers of hypnosis and suggestibility were well
documented in the early to mid 20th century, and still continue to this very day. The
myth of Caligari feeds off this question: can a person be driven to commit murder against
his or her will? Fortunately, modern research tells us emphatically no, but this answer
was not so clear during the decades immediately following the production of Caligari . 
This conflict of normality versus corruption and insanity is a substantial theme
throughout the rest of the film, as the line between insanity and sanity becomes blurred.
Another important concept is the fact that evil is not total in nature. Cesare
demonstrates, as many screen monsters in the future were to duplicate, that being a
hideous evil creature may not be what it is cracked up to be. Maybe these outsiders have
longings and feelings of their own and are not simply murderous drones. Cesare,
therefore, may not be simply a stone-faced puppet, but a tortured soul longing to gain
sanctuary. Count Dracula is not just some pent-up old-timer donning a tuxedo and cape who
kills just for the thrill of sucking blood, but rather a lonely being who takes others'
lives in order to sustain his own. Maybe it is okay for these traditional enemies of
society to take a breather, in order to savor the feelings a free spirit experiences. And
since love is considered the most basic and important human emotion, it would be a good
enough start.
Bibliography
The Foundation of Human Understanding: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on
Psychopolitics, located online http:// users.netonecom.net/~gwood/TLP/ref/brainwsh.htm