The collector by john fowles

“The Collector” is a fictional story that was written in the 1960’s by John Fowles. The book is considered a work of art and has had great reviews; however none that really delve into either of the main characters psyches. Both of them seem to be suffering from some type of a disorder or syndrome that could explain the behavior they display through out this story. These disorders could range from the extreme to the milder forms of several disorders. This will be a journey to find what disorders they may be suffering from and how their behavior has lead to this diagnosis.

First there is Clegg, the captor; he is a collector of butterflies. He is also the winner to a sizable lottery winning. Although he won the lottery he still wasn’t happy with his life. He longs for companionship, thinking back to yesteryear, he remembers a local girl, Miranda, that caught his fancy. He had thoughts of her before, but since he knew he wasn’t of the same social status, the “la-di-da” type, he dismissed those thoughts, but could never really forget her. Now that his social status has improved he fanaticizes about ha

The schizotypal type is defined as a “detachment from, and great discomfort in, social relationships; odd perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors”. This is a continuation of the schizoid type when dealing with the social relationships; however it also touches on behavior. Clegg shows us that his perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors are odd. We have already discussed how he refers to women as if he were speaking of butterflies, but even beyond that he shows this by his thoughts of Miranda. Only a few pages into his narration he makes it clear by saying, “…I kept her captive in a nice way. Gradually she came to know me and like me and the dream grew”. Eventually leading to a happily ever after scenario. Further along in the reading Clegg also stats how happy they were, really how happy he was, and commented on how she must feel as well, “[…] there were times when I consider she didn’t mind in spite of what she said […]”. It is clear by these statements that his perceptions were off or more clearly stated in the definition “odd”.

As stated before, Clegg could be represented by other characteristics of personality disorder. The anxious-fearful cluster includes the following types: dependent, obsessive-compulsive, and avoidant; The dramatic-erratic cluster includes the following types: histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial. While although he doesn’t share all of these characteristics he does pick up on a couple. The avoidant and antisocial types would also help describe his outlandish behavior and thought processes. The avoidant type is defined as an “inhibition in social situations; feelings of inadequacy; oversensitivity to criticism”. The antisocial type is defined as a “shameless disregard for, and violation of, other people’s rights”. Both of these have been proven by Clegg’s actions throughout the book. He doesn’t value Miranda as a human with rights; to him she is just another object that he has collected.

Clegg seems to suffer from several different disorders. He could be diagnosed as a sufferer of schizophrenic and/or bipolar disorder. However, Tyrer suggests the “problem with […] personality and bipolar disorder […]. Clinically, it is not uncommon to misdiagnose one for the other”. Since Clegg isn’t disabled by these disorders, this would lead one to believe that a personality disorder would better diagnose his behavior. That being said, personality disorders are “long-standing, inflexible ways of behaving that are not so much severe mental disorders as dysfunctional styles of living”. This disorder is grouped

Some topics in this essay:
Art School, Cousin Mabel, Lorraine Sheridan, Clegg Miranda, John Fowles, Stockholm Syndrome, Mental Disorders, type defined, Finally Clegg, social relationships, mental disorders, positive feelings, cluster includes types, third type, suffer disorders, schizoid type, defined “detachment, perceptions beliefs, cluster includes, type defined “detachment,