Men as Scapegoats in The Manchurian Candidate

Men as Scapegoats in The Manchurian Candidate

“Every compulsively brutal blow… from the hands of that young man who… could not begin to reach her understanding or her feeling had beaten a deep distaste and contempt for all men since her father” (59).

Many times it takes the force of a catalyst to induce malicious or immoral behavior in a person. When a certain event takes place in one’s life where the person is forced to resent and loathe another person who was involved in ruining or hurting them in some way, this dramatically impacts the way she relates and behaves around other people. In the novel The Manchurian Candidate, Condon creates two characters battling profound inner conflict: Raymond Shaw and his mother Eleanor Iselin. Raymond Shaw is a former sergeant for the U.S. Army and someone many people find hard to get along with and enjoy his company. He endured much suffering while he was growing up, such as the suicide of his father, and because of the traumatic circumstances of his childhood, he strongly detests his cruel mother. Eleanor Iselin, also referred to as Ellie, is similar to Raymond in that she is trying to bear with the tragic events that occurred in her adolescence as well. Although at first glace Ellie Iselin can be deemed a psychotic, power-hungry fiend who frequently takes advantage of people to get whatever she wants no matter the cost, this is not always the case. Condon is representing Ellie in this way because it reveals the rising need for power and equality that women in the 1950’s had been fighting for and were just beginning to acquire. He creates a complicated character such as Ellie to give readers the opportunity to understand why she behaves the way she does. For every emotional shortcoming a person has, there is always a sad and complicated story behind it. Because of Ellie’s constant struggle with her insecurity, she uses men as scapegoats in order to gain power and fulfill inadequacies in her life.