Michael Boag once said that “Using an alter-ego for emotional protection is like wearing an armour plated chef’s apron at the front, while being completely naked at the back.” Mr. Boag makes an interesting metaphor which explains what and why people may use an alter-ego. In Allal and Psycho it is learned that this is one of the reasons that Allal and Norman Bates use the alter-ego. Which helps us see that the personality and the symbolism of past experiences of an individual makes the them more vulnerable to their alter-ego. Which make Allal and Norman more vulnerable furthermore easily conquerable to their alter-egos, so they loose the body at the same time all control. In both Allal and Psycho the main character’s personality is weaker than that of the alter-ego. In Allal, Allal is characterized as someone who has never been accepted by society. When he finally obtains the snake he tries persistently to get its acceptance: “That night and every night thereafter, Allal sat with the snake, while with infinite patience he sought to make it his friend” (Bowles 493). It is inferred that Allal has a craving for acceptance since he had “infinite patience” which means that he didn’t really care how long it took, as long as he got what he wanted he was happy. This means that the cobra, Allal’s alter-ego, was in control so …show more content…
Norman and Allal both had weaker personalities too, which made their alter-egos less dependent on the them which eventually caused their taking over. Through the evidence presented to us we can take away that The personality and the symbolism of past experiences of an individual makes the them more vulnerable to their alter-ego. Also the fact that due to their abandonment at a young age and the unequal sharing of the body they were more vulnerable and prone to their alter-egos conquering of the