64 pages • 2 hours read
Sociopath: A Memoir
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Symbols & Motifs
Chocolate Cake
The motif of chocolate cake illustrates Patric Gagne’s exploration of normalcy and domestic contentment in the memoir. Initially, making chocolate cake represents the author’s relationship with her mother. Mrs. Gagne’s role as a pillar of stability and safety in her daughter’s life is embodied by their interactions in the kitchen. Sitting under the table while her mother meticulously cuts cake layers with a thread, Patric feels safe to recount her antisocial activities to her mother without reprisals. However, Mrs. Gagne’s increasing despair at her daughter’s social transgressions and her own failing marriage is demonstrated when Patric finds her crying over an unevenly cut cake. Her inability to perfect the layers represents Mrs. Gagne’s inability to maintain a harmonious home life despite her best efforts.
When Patric starts living with David, she copies her mother’s cake-making technique, trying to replicate her “Southern-style housekeeping” (16). Her actions reflect the belief that a blissful domestic life with David will cure her sociopathy. Using a thread to cut equal layers demonstrates Patric’s initial care and satisfaction in the role. The homemaking activity makes her think she has achieved the domestic idyll. However, Patric soon finds this role unsatisfying, and her symptoms reemerge, echoing the unhappiness of her mother.
The Statue of Liberty Keychain
Patric introduces the Statue of Liberty keychain to her relationship with David as a symbol of honesty and intimacy. After finding the keychain while trespassing in an empty house, she leaves it on the hall table after each of her antisocial acts. For Patric, the Statue of Liberty aptly reflects her freedom to give in to sociopathic impulses while giving David the option of whether he wants to know the details. The broken keychain also represents the transgressive nature of entering homes without a key or the owner’s permission.
However, as the narrative progresses, the motif comes to symbolize the growing misunderstandings within Patric and David’s relationship due to their differences in perspective. David interprets the keychain as a sign that Patric wants him to dissuade her from dangerous behaviors. Consequently, Patric stops using the keychain as a signal when she feels David becoming increasingly judgmental of her actions.
The Prisoners
Patric’s visit to a Florida prison as an 11-year-old is a significant formative experience. Ironically, as the prison guard explains how the prisoners’ sociopathic behavior differentiates them from “normal” people like her, Patric recognizes her own traits in the men. As the only visible example of sociopathy she has encountered, the prisoners come to symbolize Patric’s likely future.
The symbolism of prisoners in the memoir illustrates the impact of marginalizing conditions such as sociopathy. The invisibility of sociopaths in ordinary society means Patric can only identify herself with convicted criminals. Consequently, she concludes that the only way to escape the prisoners’ fate is to be clever and ensure she is not caught, as avoiding criminal activity altogether does not seem a realistic prospect. Patric’s encounter with the prisoners continues to impact her sense of identity into adulthood. It is only when she becomes a therapist that she meets other sociopaths who, like her, do not have criminal records.
The Man with the German Shepherd
The motif of the man with the German Shepherd represents the memoir’s theme of The Pursuit of Normalcy and Assimilation. Patric’s profound interest in other people, despite her lack of empathy, is illustrated by her curiosity about the stranger who frequently passes her window while walking his dog. This curiosity leads to the sinister act of stalking the man and watching him with his “perfect little family” (176) through their living room window. Patric’s craving for normalcy is demonstrated in her vow that she will one day have a similar life. However, the barrier of the window suggests this might be unattainable for her. Years later, Patric’s recollection of this vision remains “crystal clear, like a vintage Polaroid pinned for years in the dusty corner of a vision board” (176).
In the memoir’s Epigraph, the author confirms that she has finally attained the kind of familial contentment enjoyed by the man with the German Shepherd. However, she adds that her experience does not match the perfection of her original vision as “Perfect […] is far too tame” (339). The observation underlines how Gagne finds her own version of normalcy without denying her identity as a sociopath.
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