CHAPTER III

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MULTIPLE PERSONALITY

In this analysis, the writer uses the theory of psychological disorder that

focuses on multiple personality or also known as dissociative identity disorder.

According to Halgin and Whitbourne (2009: 193), the individual with dissociative

disorder has at least two distinct identities or personality states, each with its own

pattern of perceiving, thinking, and relating, as well as its own style of behavior,

personal history, and self-image. At different times, one of these identities or

personality states takes control of the person’s behavior. People with dissociative

personality disorder have a primary identity associated with their given name.

This primary identity, or host, is customarily passive and dependent, possibly also

depressed and guilty. The alters are usually strikingly different, possibly acting in

ways that are hostile, demanding, or self-destructive. They may have different

ages, races, levels of intelligence, and affective styles, and that may even be

opposite gender. The transmission from one alter to another is usually sudden,

triggered by psychosocial stress or a personally salient stimulus. At any given

moment, only one alter interacts with the external environment, although the

others may actively perceive what is happening or influence what is going on.

Most of the personalities have a sense of lost or distorted experiences of time. An

alter may piece together memories to make up for unaccounted gasp, or an alter

may have access to the memories of the other alters.

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 According to Halgin and Whitbourne (2009: 45-50), based on The

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV-TR) —is the

diagnostic system which is originally developed in 1952 used by the American

Psychiatric Association based on a medical model orientation, in which disorders,

whether physical or psychological, are viewed as disease— diagnoses of the

disease are categorized in terms of relevant areas of functioning within what are

called axes. An axis is a class of information regarding an aspect of an

individual’s functioning. There are five axes of the DSM-IV-TR), along which

each client is evaluated:

a. Axis I: Clinical Disorder

The major clinical disorders are on Axis I. These are called clinical

syndromes, meaning that each is a collection of symptoms that constitutes

a particular form of abnormality such as schizophrenia, anxiety disorders,

somatoform disorders, dissociative disorders, mood disorders, eating

disorders, sleep disorders, impulse-control disorders, factitious disorders,

adjustment disorders, sexual and gender identity disorders, substance-

related disorders, disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood

or adolescence, mental disorders due to a general condition,

delirium(dementia, amnestic, and other cognitive disorders) and other

conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention.

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b. Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation

Axis II includes sets of disorders that represent enduring characteristics of

an individual’s personality or abilities. One set of disorders is the

personality disorders. These are personality traits that are inflexible and

maladaptive and that cause either subjective distress or considerable

impairment in a person’s ability to carry out the tasks of daily living.

c. Axis III: General Medical Condition

Axis III is for documenting a client’s medical conditions.

d. Axis IV: Psychosocial and Environmental Problems

On axis IV, the clinician documents events or pressures that may affect the

diagnosis, treatment, or outcome of a client’s psychological disorder.

e. Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning

Axis V is used to document the clinician’s overall judgment of a client’s

psychological, social, and occupational functioning. Ratings are made for

the client’s current functioning at the point of admission or discharge, or

the highest level of functioning during the previous year. The rating of the

client’s functioning during the preceding year provides the clinician with

important information about the client’s prognosis, or likelihood of

recovering from the disorder. If a client has functioned effectively in the

recent past, the clinician more reason to hope for improvement. The

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 prognosis may not be so bright if a client has a lengthy history of poor

adjustment.

Based on the classification above, multiple personality is included in the

category of dissociative disorders.

3. Dissociative Disorder

Dissociative disorders cover a category of loosely related rare conditions

involving sudden alterations in cognition. The various types of dissociative

disorders are characterized by a change in memory, perception, or “identity”.

These experiences are common under stress but can occur in the absence of stress

(Morgan & others, 2001) in Lahey (2007: 550). Individual with these disorders

may be unable to recall important personal events or may temporarily forget their

identity or even assume a new identity. They may even wander far from their

usual surroundings.

There are four kinds of dissociative disorders; depersonalization,

dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, and dissociative identity disorder

(multiple personality).

3.1. Depersonalization

The term depersonalization refers to experiences in which the individual

feels that he or she has become distorted or “unreal”, or that distortions have

occurred in one’s surroundings. The individual might feel that his hands have

become enlarged or out of control. Or the individual might feel like a robot––even

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though he or she knows she is a real person–or that his or her parents are not real

people. The individual knows that these feelings are not accurate, although they

have an eerie reality to them. One of the more common experiences of

depersonalization is the sense of leaving one’s body and being able to look at it

from the ceiling.

Depersonalization as an altered state of consciousness, experiences of

depersonalization are rather common, especially in young adults. Unless they are

accompanied by other problems or become recurrent to the point of being

uncomfortable, these experiences are not considered abnormal. Generally, they

are nothing more than an unsettling experience.

Diagnostic criteria for Depersonalization according to DSM IV-TR:

a. Persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached from, and as if one

is an outside observer of, one’s mental processes or body (e.g. feeling like

no one is in a dream)

b. During the personalization experience, reality testing remains intact

c. The depersonalization causes clinically significant distress or impairment

in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning

d. The depersonalization experience does not occur exclusively during the

course of another mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, panic disorder,

acute stress disorder, or another dissociative disorder, and is not due to the

direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g. a drug of abuse, a

medication) or a general condition (e.g. temporal lobe epilepsy)

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 3.2 Dissociative Amnesia

Dissociative amnesia is psychologically caused. The person with

dissociative amnesia is suddenly unable to recall important personal information,

usually after some stressful episode. The holes of memory are too extensive to be

explained by ordinary forgetfulness.

Most often the memory loss is for all events during a limited period of

time following some traumatic experience, such as witnessing the death of a loved

one. More rarely the amnesia is for only selected events during circumscribed

period of distress; it is continuous from a traumatic event to the present; or is total,

covering the person’s entire life. During the period of amnesia, the person’s

behavior is otherwise unremarkable, except that the memory loss may bring some

disorientation and purposeless wandering. With total amnesia the patient does not

recognize relatives and friends, but retains the ability to talk, read, and reason and

perhaps retains talents and previously acquired knowledge of the world and how

to function in it. The amnesic episode may last several hours or as long as several

years. It usually disappears as suddenly as it came on, with complete recovery and

only a small chance of recurrence.

Memory loss is also common in many organic brain disorders as well as in

substance abuse. But amnesia and memory loss caused by a brain disease or

substance abuse can be fairly easily distinguished. In degenerative brain disorders

memory fails slowly over time and is not linked to life stress. Memory loss

following a brain injury caused by some trauma (e.g., an automobile accident) or

substance abuse can be easily linked to the trauma or the substance being abuse.

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Diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Amnesia according to DSM IV-TR:

a. The predominant disturbance is one or more episodes of inability to recall

important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature,

that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness

b. The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the fugue,

posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or somatization

disorder and is not due to the direct psychological effects of a substance

(e.g. a drug of abuse, a medication) or a neurological or other general

medical condition (e.g. amnestic disorder due to head trauma)

c. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social,

occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

3.3 Dissociative Fugue

Dissociative fugue states are rare conditions that are resemble amnesia in

that there is a loss of memory, but loss is so complete that the individual cannot

remember his or her identity or previous life. The fugue episode is also typified by

a period of “wandering” that may take the individual around the corner or across

the continent. In many instances, the individual takes on a new “personality”

during the fugue episode, usually one that is more sociable, more fun-loving and

less conventional than the previous one. Sometimes the assumption of the new

identity can be quite elaborate, with the person taking on a new name, new home,

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new job, and even a new set of personality characteristics. He or she may succeed

in establishing a fairly complex social life, all without questioning the inability to

remember the past. More often, however, the new life does not crystallize to this

extent and the fugue is of briefer duration. It consists for the most part of limited,

but apparently purposeful, travel, during which social contacts are minimal or

absent. Fugues typically occur after a person had experienced some severe stress,

such as marital quarrels, personal rejections, war service, or a natural disaster.

Recovery, although varying in the time it takes, is usually complete; the individual

does not recollect what took place during the flight from his or her usual haunts.

Diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Fugue according to DSM IV-TR:

a. The predominant disturbance is sudden, unexpected, travel away from

home or one’s customary place of work, with inability to recall one’s past

b. Confusion about personal identity or assumption of a new identity (partial

or complete)

c. The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of

dissociative identity disorder and is not due to the direct physiological

effects of a substance (e.g. a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general

medical condition (e.g. temporal lobe epilepsy)

d. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social,

occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

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 3.4 Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality)

Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality)

requires that a person have at least two separate ego states, or alters, different

modes of being and feeling and acting that exist independently of each other,

coming forth and being in control at different times. Gasp in memory are also

common and are produces at least one alter has no contact with the other; that is,

alter A has no memory for what alter B is like, or even any knowledge of having

an alternate state of being. The existence of different alters must furthermore be

chronic (long-lasting) and severe (causing considerable disruption in one’s life); it

cannot be a temporary change resulting from the ingestion of a drug, for example.

Each alter is fully integrated and complex with its own behavior patterns,

memories, and relationships: each determines the nature and acts of the individual

when it is in command. Usually the personalities are quite different, even opposite

of one another. Indeed, they may have different handedness, wear glasses with

different perceptions, and have allergies to different substances. The original and

subordinate alters are all aware of lost periods of time, and the voices of the others

may sometimes echo into their consciousness, even though they do not know to

whom these voices belong. When an individual has more than two alters, each of

these may to some extent be aware of others. In fact, they may talk to each other

and be constant companions.

Dissociative identity disorder usually begins in early childhood, but it is

rarely diagnosed until adolescence. It is more chronic and serious than other

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dissociative disorders, and recovery may be less complete. It is much more

common in women than in men. It is usually accompanied by headaches,

substance abuse, phobias, suicidal ideas, and self-abusive behavior.

Diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Identity according to DSM IV-TR:

a. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each

with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and

thinking about the environment and self)

b. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control

of the person’s behavior

c. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to

be explained by ordinary forgetfulness

d. The disturbance is not due to direct physiological effects off a substance

(e.g. blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or a

general medical condition (e.g. complex partial seizures). Note: in

children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or

other fantasy play.

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 CHAPTER IV

FINDING AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Ashley Patterson

Ashley Patterson is twenty eight years old. She is neatly dressed, with

patrician features, a slim figure and intelligent, has brown eyes. She is elegant and

very attractive. Her dark hair falls softly to her shoulders. She had grown up in

Bedford, Pennsylvania. Her father had been head of one of the top one hundred

hospitals in the country. But in the recent of three years, she has been living in an

apartment in Cupertino, California. She works at Global Computer Graphics

Corporation, a successful, fast-growing young company with two hundreds

employees. She is an expert in advertising and graphic design, creating layouts

with text and images.

Ashley suffers a mental illness namely dissociative identity disorder or

also known as multiple personalities — a condition where there are several

completely different personality in one body — which make her divided into three

identities. She is the host or original personality. It starts because of a childhood

trauma, where she shut out the trauma by creating another identity. She was raped

by her own father when she was six years old. It happened when she and her

father were in London. As they got home, she told her mother about what had

happened to her, and her mother called her as a liar. Since that time her mother

hated her.

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 “Father came to her every night and got into bed
with her.” The words were pouring out now. “She
couldn’t stop him. When they got home, Ashley told
her mother what happened, and Mother called her a
lying little bitch.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 328)

“Ashley was afraid to go to sleep at night because

she knew Papa was going to come to her room. He
used to make her touch him and then play with
himself. And he said to her, ‘Don’t tell anyone about
this or I won’t love you anymore.’ She couldn’t tell
anyone. Mama and papa were yelling at each other
all the time, and Ashley thought it was her fault. She
knew she had done something wrong, but she didn’t
know what. Mama hated her.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 329)

Ashley losses her memory for several times and she does not realize on

what has happened while her body was taken over by her other identity. She feels

that someone is following her and wants to kill her. In one night she called a

policeman to stay at her apartment because she is too afraid being in a terror.

“About—about six months ago. I felt I was being

followed. At first it was just a vague feeling, but then
it began to grow. I knew I was being followed, but I
couldn’t se anyone. Then at work, someone got into
my computer and drew a picture of a hand with a
knife in it trying to—to stab me.”
“And do you have any idea who it could have been?”
“No.”
“You said someone has gotten into this apartment
before today?”
“Yes. Once, someone turned on all the lights when I
was gone. Another time I found a cigarette butt on
my drawer and went through my . . . my
underwear.” She took a deep breath, “And now . . .
this.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 104-105)

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 I don’t know. I—I think I’m being followed, Dr.
Speakman. It sounds crazy, but —I think someone
wants to kill me.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 43)

Ashley is accused as a murderer that she feels she never done. She is told

that she has done five murders. She tries hard telling everyone that she is not the

murderer but no one believes her because the police have the identical proof or

the evidence points to the same woman being involved in all cases. Then, she is

identified as the murderer and arrested.

Ashley whispered, “I didn’t do any of the terrible

things they said I did.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 141)

Why are they doing this to me? I’m not a dangerous

criminal. I’m a normal woman. And a voice inside
her said, Who murdered five innocent people.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 291)

One of the murdered victims is Jim Cleary who was in love with Ashley

and she also loves him. Her father prohibits her to have a relationship with Jim

Cleary. Lately she finds that Jim Cleary is murdered and she thinks that her father

as the murderer of Jim Cleary.

“I—I found out that the day after you and I left for
London, Jim Cleary’s body . . . was found. He had
been stabbed . . . and castrated.” She sat there,
watching him, waiting for a reaction.”
Dr. Patterson frowned. “Cleary? Oh, yes. That boy
who was panting after you. I saved you from him,
didn’t I?”

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 What did that mean? Was it a confession? Had he
saved her from Jim Cleary by killing him?
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 90)

Ashley only knows that she often loses time. The experience of losing

time is almost happened in everyday. She often finds that something has changed

without her knowing and she also finds that she has done something that she does

not. It makes her confuse and she thinks that someone has done those things to

her.

“When Ashley picked up her ticket at the airport,

she examined it and said, “I’m afraid there’s been
some mistake. I’m flying tourist. This is a first-class
ticket.”
“Yes. You changed it.”
She stared at the clerk. “I what?”
“You telephoned and said to change it to a first-class
ticket.” He showed Ashley a slip of paper. “Is this
your credit card number?”
She looked at it and said slowly, “Yes . . .”
She had not made that phone call.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 45)

Ashley has no memory for what happened to her sometimes. She can be in

a place where she never plans to go. She wears a dress which she does not use to.

Those events are often happened but she cannot tell anybody because she has no

answer about it.

She awakened slowly, knowing that something was

terribly wrong. She felt as though she had been
drugged. It was an enormous effort merely to open
her eyes. Ashley looked around the room and began
to panic. She was lying in bed, naked, in a cheap
hotel room. She managed to sit up, and her head
started to pound. She had no idea where she was or

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 how she had gotten there. There was a room service
menu on nightstand, and she reached over and
picked it up. The Chicago Loop Hotel. She read it
again, stunned. What am I doing in Chicago? How
long have I been here? The visit to Dennis Tibble’s
apartment had been on Friday. What day is this? With
growing alarm, she picked up the telephone.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 53-54)

Ashley feels afraid in knowing that there are other identities that live in her

body. She is too afraid because she cannot control if her other identities do

something that she does not want to. She cannot face the reality of other identities

live in her body and caused some murders and she is so hopeless that makes her

decides to commit suicide.

“It’s as though two different people are living inside

me, and I don’t know them.” Her voice was
trembling. “They can take over anytime they want
to, and I have no control of them. I’m so
frightened.” Her eyes filled with tears.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 178-179)

“I want to die. Help me to die!” She began sobbing

uncontrollably.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 159)

Ashley is treated in the asylum by Doctor Gilbert for the Multiple

Personality. He is attracted to her and during her crisis he also feels her pain and

wants to comfort her. After a long treatment, the doctor finds that Ashley its cure,

but actually she is not. It is a part of Toni’s plan that no one knows that she hides

in Ashley. Ashley leaves the asylum for home. She still harbors her hatred for her

father and still Toni resides in her. She is on the way to kill her father.

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She boarded the train and took a seat. She was filled
with excitement at what was about to happen. The
train gave a jerk and then started picking up speed.
I’m on my way at last. And as the train headed
toward the Hamptons, she began to sing softly:

“All around the mulberry bush,

The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought t’was all in fun,
Pop! Goes the weasel . . .”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 362-363)

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 4.1.1 Ashley’s Other Identities

As Ashley Patterson is claimed to suffer from multiple personality then

she is known to have other identities or alters who play special role in Ashley’s

life and trauma. Below is the analysis of the character of Ashley’s other identities,

they are :

4.1.1.1 Alette Peters

Alette Peters is twenty years old. She is plain-looking, attractive or

stunningly beautiful, depending on her mood or how she is feeling about herself.

But she is never simply pretty. Part of her charm is that she is completely unaware

of her looks. She is shy and soft-spoken, with gentleness that she is almost an

anachronism. She is a vegetarian.

“What would you like” Richard asked. “They have

great roast beef here.:
“I’m a vegetarian. I’ll just have a salad. Thank you.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 92)

Alette first existence is when Ashley eight years old in Roma. She is

created to stand up for Ashley. She comes in order to protect Ashley because

Ashley was too afraid for her father who raped her one night.

“How long did this go on?” Dr. Keller asked.

“When I was eight . . .” Toni stopped.
“Go on, Toni.”
Ashley’s face changed, and it was Alette sitting in
the chair. She said, “We moved to Roma, where he
did a research at Policlinico Umberto Primo.”
“And that’s where you were born?”

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 Yes. Ashley couldn’t stand what happened one
night, so I came to protect her.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 329)

Because Alette was born in Roma, she has a musical Italian accent. She

loves everything about Rome.

Ashley took a deep breath and there was a sudden

explosion of words spoken in Italian.
“Cè qualcuno che parla Italiano?”
“Alette—“
“Non so dove mi trovo.”
“Alette, listen to me. You’re safe. I want you to
relax.”
“Mi sento stance . . . I’m tired.”
“You’ve been through a terrible time, but all that is
behind you. Your future is going to be very peaceful.
Do you know where you are?”
“Sì. It some kind of place for people who are pazzo.”
That’s why you’re here, Doctor. You’re the crazy one.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 298- 299)

Alette is really unique because her senses are tuned to the nuances of

colors that everything she feels, see, smell and hear, she can describe it into

colors. She likes to spend her times to visit the museum especially museum of art.

She loves painting and wants desperately to be an artist, although she knows that

her mother really hates her and never supports for what she does.

Her father’s voice was blue and sometimes red.

Her mother’s voice was dark brown.
Her teacher’s voice was yellow.
The grocer’s voice was purple.
The sound of the wind in the trees was green.
The sound of running water was grey.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 27)

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 She could hear her mother’s dark brown voice:
“You’re wasting paper and paint. You have no talent.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 28)

“I like to paint.”
“We’ll have to get you some paints.”
“No!”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to.” What do you call that, child? It
looks like an ugly blob to me.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 299-300)

Alette is manic depressive. She suffers from anomie, a feeling of

alienation from others. Her mood swings always catch her unaware, and in an

instant, she goes from a blissful euphoria to a desperate misery. She has no control

over her emotion. Toni is the only one with whom Alette would discuss her

problems. Toni always has a solution for everything, and it is usually to go and

have some fun.

Monday morning, Alette told Toni about her

experience. “Don’t get involved with an artist,” Toni
warned. “You’ll be living on the fruit he paints. Are
you going to see him again?”
Alette smiled. “Yes. I think he likes me. And I really
like him.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 35)

Alette’s has a changing mood that she cannot control sometimes. The

smallest slights, whether intended or not, it will drive Alette into a rage. When the

black cloud descended, Alette sometimes imagines people on the street having

heart attacks or being struck by automobiles or being mugged and killed. She

would play the scenes out in her mind, and they were vividly real. A moment

later, she feels shame. However, on her good days, she is a completely different

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person. She is genuinely kind and sympathetic and enjoys helping people. The

only thing that spoiled her happiness is the knowledge that the darkness would

come down on her again, and she would be lost in it.

The woman said gratefully, “Dear, if I had a

daughter, I’d want her to be exactly like you.”
Alette squeezed her hand. “That’s such a great
compliment. Thank you.” And her inner voice said,
If you had a daughter, she’d look like a pig like you.
And Alette was horrified by her thoughts. It was as
though someone else inside her was saying those
words. It happened constantly.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 30)
A man came up to the booth. “Hi, there. Did you
paint these?”
His voice was a deep blue.
No, stupid. Michelangelo dropped by and painted
them.
“You’re very talented.”
“Thank you.” What do you know about talent?
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 32)

Alette always goes to church in every Sunday morning. The church has

volunteer programs to feed the homeless, to teach after-school art lessons and to

tutor students and she will involve the program and lead children’s Sunday school

classes and help in the nursery. She volunteers for all the charitable activities and

devote as much time as she could to them. She particularly enjoys giving painting

classes for the young.

“I don’t know. Maybe there’s God. If there is, he has

a strange sense of humor, doesn’t he? Alette is a
religious one. She goes to church regularly, that
one.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 195)

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 One Sunday, the church had a fair for a fund-raiser,
and Alette brought in some of her own paintings for
the church to sell. The pastor, Frank Selvaggio,
looked at them in amazement.
“These are—These are brilliant! You should be
selling them at a gallery.”
“Alette blushed. “No, not really. I just do them for
fun.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 31)

When Ashley is in prison, Alette actually wants to help Ashley to appear

in the court as the witness but Toni prohibits her. Toni also prohibits Alette to talk

to Ashley. Actually, Alette is never hate Ashley but she is just a little bit afraid of

Toni. She always gives in to Toni because she considers Toni as her friend and as

someone who she can trust to.

As they watched, Ashley’s face changed again. She

seemed to relax in her chair, and her face took on a
shy look. In her Italian accent, Alette said, “Mr.
Singer, I know you did the best you could. I wanted
to appear in court and help you, but Toni wouldn’t
let me.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 278)

“Do you like Ashley?”

“She’s all right.”” Why are you asking me all these
foolish questions?
“Why don’t you talk to her?”
“Toni doesn’t want me to.”
“Does Toni always tell you what to do?”
“Toni is my friend.” It’s none of your business.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 302)

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 4.1.1.2 Tony Prescott

Tony Prescott is 22 years old, impish, vivacious, and daring. She is half

smoldering, half firecracker. Her face is puckishly heart shaped; her eyes are

mischievous brown, her figure alluring. She was born in London and she speaks

with delightful British accent. She is athletic and loves sports, particularly winter

sports: skiing and bobsledding and ice-skating.

Going to college in London, she dresses conservatively during the day, but

at night, she wears miniskirts and disco gear and makes the swinging rounds. She

has a beautiful voice, sultry and at some of the clubs, she plays the piano and

sings, and the patrons will cheer her. She is an aggressive woman; she loves to

have fun and goes to the party. That is when she feels most alive. She does not

like Ashley’s life, for her it is so boring.

There was a pause. “She tries to keep everybody

from having fun. If I didn’t take over once in a
while, our lives would be boring. Boring. She doesn’t
like to go to parties or travel or do any fun things.”
“But you do?”
“You bet I do. That’s what life’s all about, isn’t it,
luv?”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 301)

Toni hates her mother inside. She hates her for what she told her and

underestimated her and doubted of her ability.

Toni thought about how much her mother would

have hated internet. But then her mother had hated
everything. She had only two means of
communicating: screaming and whining. Toni could
never please her. “Can’t you ever do anything right,

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 you stupid child?” Well, her mother had yelled at her
once too often. Toni thought about the terrible
accident in which her mother had died. Toni could
still hear her screams for help the memory of it
made Toni smile.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 26)

Toni and Alette generally maintain a friendship and Toni’s favorite subject

is Ashley Patterson. Toni dislikes Ashley and criticizes her harshly.

“Look at that tight-assed bitch,” Toni said

contemptuously. “She’s the ice queen.”
Alette nodded. “She’s very serious. Someone should
teach her how to laugh.”
Toni snorted. “Someone should teach her how to
fuck.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 29)

Toni is the dominant alter than Alette. She is tricky and she has a control

to Alette, she always has a plan for them and she likes to tell Alette for what she

will do. She will try anything for her willing.

“You’re bloody stupid,” Toni scoffed. “Don’t you see

what’s happening? I told you once. He’s pretending
to like us so we’ll do what he wants us to do. And do
you know what that is? He wants to bring us all
together, luv, and then convince Ashley that she
doesn’t need us. And do you know what happens
then? You and I die. Is that what you want? I
don’t.”
“Well, no,” Alette said hesitantly.
“Then listen to me. We go along with the doctor. We
make him believe that we’re really trying to help
him. We string him along. We’re in no hurry. And I
promise you that one day I’ll get us out of here.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 319-320)

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 Toni is a brave woman and she is really dangerous. She has killed five

men by castrating them.

“They’re playing games, Otto. It’s as though they

know what I’m trying to do, and they won’t let me. I
think Ashley genuinely wants to help, but they won’t
allow her to. Usually under hypnosis you can get
through to them, but Toni is very strong. She takes
complete control, and she’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes. Imagine how much hatred she must have in
her to murder and castrate five men.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 323)

Toni considers that she is the murderer of five men and she is who actually

responsible to the five murders. She has no regret for what she has done because

she is aware that she is a part of Ashley’s mind. Even Toni is emerged somehow,

but she does not really exist. People know her as Ashley, and she places the blame

on Ashley.

“Toni, do you believe it’s right to kill people?

“No, of course not.”
“Then—”
“Not unless you have to.”
Her tone of voice changed. She suddenly sounded
defensive. “Well, you know, like if you have to
protect yourself. If someone’s hurting you.” She was
getting agitated. “If some git is trying to do dirty
things to you.” She was becoming hysterical.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 195)
Toni said, “You bloody idiot! You don’t know
anything, do you? Alette would never have had the
nerve to do that. I did it. They served to die. All they
wanted to do was to have sex.” She was breathing
hard. “But I made them pay for it, didn’t I? And no
one can prove I did it. Let little Miss Goody Two-

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 shoes take the blame. We’ll all go to a nice cozy
asylum and—“
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998: 278-279)

Toni accuses that she only wants to protect Ashley. She really hates her

father for what he has done to Ashley. She has a feeling that when she kills a man,

she feels that she is killing her father. She still has hatred to her father.

“I had to protect you.” Toni explained. “I supposed

every time I killed one of those men, I was killing
Father for what he had done to you.”
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 345)

“Dr. Steven Patterson has resigned from St. John’s

Hospital and will head the cardiac staff at
Manhattan Methodist Hospital. . .”
“So he can rape all the little girls there,” Toni
screamed.
“Dr. Steven Patterson received the Laskar Award
for his work in medicine and is being honored at the
White House. . .”
“They should hang the bastard!” Toni yelled.
(Sheldon. Tell Me Your Dreams. 1998 : 352-353)

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 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

5.1 CONCLUSION

Based on the analysis described in chapter IV, the writer concludes that:

In analyzing the main character of the novel, the writer uses the

psychological approach. The main character of the novel is Ashley Patterson who

is a beautiful, smart, nice woman but because of her childhood trauma has made

her suffers a mental illness namely dissociative identity disorder or also known as

multiple personality — a condition where there are several completely different

personalities in one body — which make her has other identities that are really

different to her real personality. She was accused to be the murderer of five men

that actually her other identities did. But because she was proved to have a mental

illness then she was put in an asylum in order to get a treatment. After getting a

therapy, the doctor claimed that Ashley has cured but actually she is not. She still

harbors her hatred for her father and still Toni resides in her that she wants to kill

her father.

The writer finds that each person has different personality that makes

him/her different to others. No one has the same personality. It is also found that

human characters have its good and bad traits. But then it is depending on the

conditions that changed them. The writer finds that Ashley has two other

identities or alters namely Alette Peters and Toni Prescott. Each alter has different

personality that makes her different to others. As it seen in the analysis that

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Ashley actually is a good person but her other identities are really different to her.

Toni has a bad character; brave, tricky, she bears a grudge, and she is a murderer.

She is more dominant than Alette and she is talented in singing. While Alette’s

character is religious, shy, soft spoken, moody, modest but she is talented in

paintings.

The writer also finds that multiple personality is an interesting and

mysterious case that rarely happened though it exists. In this analysis, multiple

personality happened because the victim was abused by the parents that leave a

trauma.

5.2 SUGGESTION

Through this thesis, the writer suggests that by reading this novel, the

reader can open his/her mind to have a consideration that it is important to treat a

child well especially parents or guardians. Because parents or guardian have a

very important role to the growth of the child, especially for the child’s character

forming. Beside traits personality, the situational influences (such as home,

neighborhood, community, schools or even socio-cultural influences) have power

to mold personality and also give much influence to the development of child’s

personality. As the novel tells that a bad treat from the parents can cause a bad

effect to the child, in this case Ashley Patterson who suffers from multiple

personality. It is important for parents to take a good care of their child and to

treat the child good in order to avoid from what is experienced by Ashley

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Patterson. It is also important for the parents should be aware to their child

whether he/she suffers from multiple personality or not because this kind of

illness is not easy to be seen through outside performance.

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