Hitchcock's Psycho

A detailed Summary of Hitchcock's Psycho

Marion Crane, a working woman from Phoenix, Arizona, is fed up with having to sneak around and "steal lunch hours" to meet her lover, Sam Loomis, who refuses to get married because he doesn't have any money. Sam claims he wants to wait until he pays off some of his debts because he doesn't want Marion and him to live "in a storeroom behind a hardware store in Fairvale." Marion is motivated by her desire to settle down and have a family with Sam and to have financial freedom. Surprisingly, by chance, her opportunity for freedom arrives in the form of $40,000 due to a situation that allows her to easily take the money. The first half of the film, Psycho, explores Marion's divided personality as she struggles with her decisions which lead her to a further series of chance occurrences. Ironically, these chance occurrences lead to her final entrapment at the Bates Motel.

Marion is motivated to steal money from Cassidy by her desire to be with Sam, to gain freedom from her dead end job and by her desire to obtain financial freedom. Marion and Sam carry on their "affair" in an anonymous hotel room on her lunch break. Before returning to work, Marion reveals that she is ready to get married and have a respectable relationship with Sam a

A series of chance occurrences lead Marion to her final destination at the Bates Motel. As Marion continues her journey, she runs into a rainstorm. Marion's vision is blurred because of the rain. This causes her to travel off of the main road and becomes lost. She, however, doesn't know that she is lost; she thinks she is still on the main road. Marion becomes tired and decides to stay at the first Motel she comes across - the Bates Motel. Perhaps if the officer hadn't horrified Marion she wouldn't have traded her car in for a new one. This process could have delayed her trip. The Bates Motel is only approximately 15 miles to Fairvale; she may have made it to Fairvale if she hadn't traded her car. Norman Bates, the owner of the Bates Motel, checks Marion into room 1. It appears the key to room 1 was chosen randomly. All of these chance occurrences, signifying a deadly pattern of fate, lead Marion to her final entrapment in the shower of the Bates Motel.

Marion's struggle with guilt intensifies as she continues her journey, especially when she realizes that her theft might be detected. As Marion drives out of town heading toward Fairvale, California to be with Sam, she hears voices in her head. She imagines a conversation with Sam: "Marion, what in the world, what are you doing here? Of course I'm glad to see you. I always am. What is it, Marion?" The conversation with Sam is brief and interrupted by the thought of Mr. Lowery finding out. Apparently, Marion's guilt has taken over and she doesn't want to imagine what Sam is going to do when he finds out. She knows that she is helping Sam, but she also knows that Sam won't accept the money and he will make her turn herself in. Marion continues daydreaming, she thinks about what will happen when Mr. Lowery finds out that she stole the money, and what her sister, Lila, will do when she realizes what has happened.

The theft of Cassidy's money causes Marion to have a divided personality as she struggles with guilt. Once Marion returns home with the money, she hesitates with her decisio

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Approximate Word count = 1381
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English