Psycho

Content Warning: This guide describes and analyzes the source text’s treatment of trauma, abuse, and mental health conditions. The novel contains stigmatizing depictions of cross-dressing and an individual with a mental health condition, which relies on outdated and offensive tropes that connect mental health conditions with violence.

To what degree is Norman responsible for his actions in Psycho? To what extent is Norman, like Mary and Arbogast, a victim of his circumstances? Support your argument with examples from the text.

How does the novel’s nonlinear structure increase the suspense? How do the parallel, alternating plots centering on Sam, Lila, Norman, and Norma impact the way the story unfolds?

How does Mary and Lila’s attitude toward small-town life compare to Sam, Norman, and Sheriff Chambers’s? How do those differing attitudes inform the action?