Analyse af 'The Man With Ten Personalities'

The text is about a man called William Milligan that the police in Columbus had arrested. When the police arrested William, he seemed like a classic young offender that constantly came in trouble with employers and police. But William is different than the other offenders. He has ten personalities.

The year was 1978. In Ohio State University campus there was stalked terror that year. One of the offenders that the police had arrested that year was William Milligan. He was incarcerated for rape and robbery. The police thought he was a classic young offender like many others. But when his many personalities were shown, nearly everyone agrees that Milligan was seriously ill.

The themes in the text are crime, disease, abuse and trial. The text is describing a man called William Milligan in the age of 23. He was arrested by the police, and then people began noticed in the way he acted, that he was not like the other offenders. He has shown his ten personalities, and everyone is sure about that he is mentally ill. He may have a disease called “true multiple personality”.

William Milligan had fractured his psyche into ten people, eight male and two female. All of the ten “people” with very different personalities. The personalities use different voice patterns and facial expressions, test at varying I.Q. levels, and turn out different kinds of art work. Some of the personalities we hear about are Christine, a vulnerable three-year-old, Arthur, 22, a rational, controlled planner who speaks with a British accent and tries to repair the damage done by the other personalities, Ragen 23, who speaks with a Slavic accent, is “almost” devoid of concern for others”, quiet teenagers, Tommy, 16, who initiated the enlistment in the Navy, is depressed and has many schizoid characteristics, Adelena, 19, who Milligan says is a lesbian, and it was also her who committed the rapes, then there is Allen, 18, a sociable, talented artist and the only personality who smokes, David, 9, a frightened and abused child that may have made the call leading to Milligan’s arrest, Billy, 23, who is the core personality, he is guilty, suicidal and “asleep” for most of the past seven years. The doctors found out that he has this disease, when one of them addressed Milligan as the personality “Billy” he replied, “Billy is asleep. I’m David.” And that was the first strong clue that Milligan suffered from a rare and dangerous disorder: true multiple personality.