It was after his mother’s death that Ed sealed off the upstairs, the parlor, and his mother’s bedroom. He stopped working the farm because he was able to survive off a government stipend. In his spare time Ed read books on human anatomy and Nazi concentration camp experiments. He was quite interested by the female anatomy, with an inner desire to become a female himself (Woods, 1995).

Over the next ten years Ed checked the newspaper for freshly buried female bodies so he could dig up the corpse and taking his prized possession home. He even dug up his mother’s corpse so she could keep him company. He would construct objects from the bones and skin and would store the organs in the refrigerator to eat late

Experiences as a person grows contribute to their personality as an adult. Freud felt that traumatic experiences had an especially strong effect on the personality (Abraham, 1949). During interviews conducted at the Central State Hospital after his arrest and commitment, Ed stated he remembered very little of his childhood, but did share two incidents. He told the psychologist that one afternoon while standing at the head of the basement stairs in his home, something that felt almost like a push nearly caused him to tumble down the steps. He recalled that his mother was in the kitchen as the time, and it was she who prevented him from falling. He was horrified at the suggestion that his mother may actually have tried to push him down the stairs (Ainsworth, 1982). He would insist, in testimony and interviews that, "My mother was a saint" though every psychologist who interviewed Ed over the years of his confinement would later assert Ed’s mother was a dominating, rigid, abusive head of the household (Martingale, 1995).

After Ed was arrested, he went through examinations at the Central State Hospital for the Criminally insane. He was proven insane (Schechter, 1989). Doctors said the reasons for his actions were because of his unhealthy relationship with his mother. Ed’s mother, was a fanatically religious woman, was determined to raise her boys according to her strict moral code. Sinners inhabited his mother’s world and she instilled in her boys the teachings of the bible on a daily basis. She repeatedly warned her sons of the immorality of women, hoping to discourage any sexual desires the boys might have. Though Ed’s father was in the household, Augusta took it upon herself to not only raise the children according to her beliefs but also to provide for the family financially (Martingale, 1995).

On July 26, 1984, Ed died after a long fight with cancer. He was buried in Plainfield cemetery next to his mother. Though

Some topics in this essay:
Ed Gein, Sigmund Freud, Central Hospital, Hospital Criminally, human skin, schechter 1989, martingale 1995, ed’s mother, ainsworth 1982, woods 1995, ed gein, unhealthy relationship mother, child directs, cashion 1982, central hospital,