Insanity In 'The Hoarder'

How does one distinguish what makes an individual mad or insane? As indicated by the Society for Psychological Anthropology, madness can be defined as “a generic term that includes behaviors considered deviant. Deviance is always culturally defined, and varies markedly from society to society (Gideonse). Insanity is basically abnormal and sadistic behavioral patterns that do not coincide with what is expected among normal individuals in society. People who suffer from craziness or madness are prone to violent breakouts and psychosis. Psychosis is a mental disorder in which the person is lost from reality, causing thoughts and emotions to become impaired (“Early Psychosis and Psychosis”). The main character in the short story “The Hoarder”, …show more content…
His brother used to call him a weak little bastard, only furthering the narrator’s psychotic thoughts. He and his brother use to fight physically against each other leading to pure hatred for one another. So, because of jealousy and disgust for his older sibling, the narrator murders his brother and it is not the slightest bit shocking to the reader because of the narrator’s constant violent outbursts. His behavior around other people tends to lead to outbreaks of violence. Once the narrator kills off Tom, he is able to keep a close eye on his brother’s girlfriend, Penny. As described in the short story, Penny is “thin, with sand-colored hair that [falls] straight down her back to her waist, she [has] a wry pale mouth, turned-up nose, and brown searching eyes, deep and almost tragic, which [doesn't] seem to fit with her pastel halter and white pedalpushers” …show more content…
He believes in “time and patience, twin essentials to any collector” (Morrow). He is very attracted to Penny and “he took time getting to know Penny, watching from the hidden confines of the windmill (Morrow). Penny has no idea that she is being followed and watched by the young boy. He takes pictures of her as a keepsake and learns her daily routine down to the precise minute. Before the narrator killed Tom, he was frustrated when his brother found the pictures he had been taking of Penny. Tom destroyed the narrator’s collection thus causing the boy to go more insane. Towards the end of the story, the narrator keeps talking about finishing what Tom started by destroying his collection. At the very end of the story, Penny and the narrator were riding off into the sunset to finish off Tom’s “destructive work” (Morrow). Readers can only assume Penny was going to be destroyed liked the rest of the narrator’s