Character Analysis Of Mort Rainey's The Secret Window

1118 Words3 Pages

The Secret Window is about an author, Mort Rainey, who has just gone through a separation because he caught his wife cheating on him. After this incident Mort becomes depressed and withdraws himself from the town in which he lives. His lifestyle becomes unorganized and miserable, he smokes, never sleeps in his bed, and continues to wear his ex’s old tunic. We know Rainey is being haunted by his wife’s actions because he begins to write a book about a man whose wife is cheating on him. About six months after this traumatic experience, Rainey is visited by a man who calls himself John Shooter. Shooter accuses Rainey of stealing his story and causes terror that dominates the rest of the movie. There is a flashback scene to the feeling Rainey …show more content…

Before the house is burnt, Mort visits that house to meet Amy for the magazine. However, he finds Amy and Ted being romantic on the porch. Rainey then hears a voice inside his head saying “This is not my beautiful house... This is not my beautiful wife anymore”. This shows that Rainey is feeling jealous and he realizes that he has been robbed of what was once his. This jealousy leads to a thought that he should destruct what has been taken away from him, which are the house and Amy. By suspecting Shooter, Rainey does not feel like he is the one who burns the house and therefore not guilty for anything. Other than reducing the tension that id brings and bringing pleasure by giving terrors to Amy, the existence of John Shooter functions to help Rainey deal with his …show more content…

Each personality is well developed which is usually divided into the host and the alters. The switch usually happens when the alter needs to be there to handle reality. It happens instantly without the host realizing it. In most cases, when the switch happens, the alter knows everything about the host, including his internal conflicts while the host knows nothing about the alter. The alter is fully aware of the host’s thoughts and actions. DID is a psychological defense against trauma. The process of dissociation in DID sufferers is through repression. Because of a traumatic experience, someone could repress the unwanted memory because he or she could not bear to deal with it. There is a formation of personalities created by the sufferer to get something he or she wants to achieve or the form of anticipation for the things he or she does not expect to happen. Indeed, each personality that is formed has different functions and intention. After the formation of personalities, the switch among the personalities usually happens when an alter needs to be there to help the host in handling

Open Document