Visionary Madness: The Case Of James Tilly Matthews And The Influencing Machine

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A Visionary Madness: The Case of James Tilly Matthews and the Influencing Machine was written by the author Mike Jay and tells the story of James Tilly Matthews. The story provides us with a vivid picture of the psychiatry, political and social aspects of the late eighteenth-century and shows the importance to present incidences of madness, conspiracies, mind control and manipulation. Matthews was introduced to the audience reading the book by interrupting a debate in the House of Commons. He shouted "Treason" at Lord Liverpool, who was the Prime Minister at the time, from the Public Gallery. This action of Matthews begins the story of his long journey of what Jay describes as madness and insanity.
Matthews was admitted to Bridewell Prison
…show more content…
Yes, Jay wants the readers to know the story of James Tilly Matthews and how it emerged to the illness of schizophrenia, but there is something else as well. A quote from the book reads: “The reason why the machine that controls the mind has emerged from the far shores of madness to become a new myth for our times is neither the real-life science of mind control nor the genius of fiction writers not the endless amplification and recycling of such ideas through the mass media and the Hollywood dream machine. All these symptoms, not causes: the idea resonates because we ourselves are finally ready for the Air Loom. Its world is now ours: filled with rays, beams, ethers and invisible networks we barely understand, powering inscrutable machines that project shadow worlds into our minds from unseen basements beneath our city streets. Television, radio, phone, computer: all act from a distance, transmit images and messages, stimulate our senses and mind with precision and cool machine presence. We live cocooned in an invisible electromagnetic web: like Tausk’s subjects, we all experience a third level of reality intermediate between the outside world and inside of our heads.” Jay wants readers to understand that reality has become a common ground between the outside world and our imaginations. That everyone has a piece of their brain that is controlled by the illness of schizophrenia, but this does …show more content…
He set a revolving center around Matthews and his Influencing Machine the entire time, which was a major strength from reading the book. He opened a window for his readers to receive a better understanding of what many see as mental illness, but he also opened a window for readers to exercise their mind and to formulate opinions and ideas. The only weakness that can be seen from the book is towards the end of the book. Jay brought up so many interesting points about the changing culture and how it affected people, but didn't investigate them thoroughly or entirely. It made the text confusing for the rest of the book that was previously

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