“The Da Vinci Code” (post 1) by Dan Brown: Protagonist has features of multiple personality trait

    “He turned and gazed tiredly into the full-length mirror across the room. The man staring back at him was a stranger—tousled and weary.

    “You need a vacation, Robert.

    “The past year had taken a heavy toll on him, but he didn’t appreciate seeing proof in the mirror” (1, p. 9).

Comment: Third person italics are often used by novelists to quote a voice in the character’s head.

The author may not have known that seeing a stranger in the mirror, and being addressed by a rational voice in your head, are symptoms of multiple personality (2, pp. 62, 94). Perhaps he, himself, had had such experiences in the creative version of multiple personality, called “multiple personality trait” in this blog.

1. Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code. New York, Anchor Books, 2003.

2. Frank W. Putnam, MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989.

“A Flicker in the Dark” (post 1) by Stacy Willingham: Protagonist’s gratuitous symptoms of multiple personality probably reflect the author’s

“I walk closer, the Xanax cloaking my mind into a forced calm. But still, something is nagging at me. Something is wrong. Something is different. I look around my yard: small, but well-kept…I think I catch a glimpse of movement behind a curtain from inside, but I shake my head, force myself to keep walking.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Chloe. Be real.

“My key is in the front door, already twisting, when I realize what’s wrong, what’s different.

“The porch light is off.

“The porch light I always, always leave on—even when I’m sleeping…” (1, p. 23).

Comment: Chloe is addressed by an italicized voice in her head, a typical symptom of a character with multiple personality, but since this novel has neither raised the issue of multiple personality nor labeled Chloe as having it, its only reason for being in this novel is that the author had probably experienced it as an aspect of her own, ordinary psychology.

“…the image I project out into the world isn’t actually real, but carefully crafted…I’m one small stumble away from shattering into a million pieces” [alternate personalities, when feeling most vulnerable or writing novels and creating characters] (1, pp. 38-39).

Comment: Of course, the author would have only the mentally well version, multiple personality trait, an asset for novelists.

Added Nov.29: I lost patience with the ending.

1. Stacy Willingham. A Flicker in the Dark. New York, Minotaur/St. Martin’s, 2021.

“The Bridges of Madison County” by Robert James Waller: Protagonist likes a song by Nobel Prize singer with multiple personality trait, Bob Dylan

“The only song of Dylan’s he had ever really cared for was 'Girl from the North Country'. He could play and sing that one…” (1, p. 6).

Comment: Neither the author nor the Nobel judges would have searched “Bob Dylan” in this blog and learned of his probable multiple personality trait, but any affinity between the author of a novel and Bob Dylan could relate to their mutual multiple personality trait.

1. Robert James Waller. The Bridges of Madison County. New York, Warner Books, 1992. 

“Rules of Prey” (post 2) by John Sanford: Gratuitous Mirror Symptom of Multiple Personality

As noted in post 1, the villain saw somebody else when he looked in a mirror, which is a symptom of multiple personality. But since he is never diagnosed or even suspected of having multiple personality, why is it in this novel? As discussed in many past posts, gratuitous symptoms of multiple personality in a novel suggest multiple personality trait in the novelist.

For relevant past posts, search “gratuitous” and "mirrors" in this blog.

1. John Sanford. Rules of Prey (A Lucas Davenport Novel) [1989]. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017. 

“Rules of Prey” (post 1) by John Sanford: Serial killer sees someone other than himself when he looks in the mirror, a symptom of multiple personality

“Jeannie Lewis [a realtor]. He tucked her card into his wallet…For the next few weeks, he saw the card each time he took his wallet out of his pocket…A definite candidate…When he got out of the shower, he saw a strange face in the mirror, floating behind the steamed surface. It had happened before…It was Lewis, smiling at him, engaged in his nudity…He decided to collect her on a Thursday…There was a moment’s hesitation at the other end of the line and the maddog was afraid she had forgotten him. Then she said, ‘Oh…yes, I think I remember…

“Well, I don’t want to inconvenience you…”

“No, no problem. I know that house…I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“…Once he attacked, she had to die, because she’d seen his face…(1, pp. 31-35).

Comment: “MPD patients often report seeing themselves as different people when they look into a mirror” (2, p. 62).

Unless the serial killer, nicknamed "maddog,” is later labeled as having multiple personality disorder, his mirror symptom would be a reflection of the author’s multiple personality trait.

1. John Sanford. Rules of Prey (A Lucas Davenport Novel) [1989]. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017.

2. Frank W. Putnam MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989.

“A Painted House” by John Grisham: Seven-year-old Luke witnesses a brutal murder, but does not have symptoms of multiple personality, a posttraumatic disorder, because of his supportive, loving family

After reading Grisham’s novel, The Firm (1), and finding minimal, if any, symptoms of multiple personality (see past posts), I wondered whether Grisham is among the ten percent of successful novelists who lack multiple personality trait, a creative asset, or whether The Firm was not a fair sample of his work. 

So I decided to read A Painted House (2), a markedly different novel by John Grisham.

Conclusion: Based on these two novels, John Grisham does not appear to have multiple personality trait.

1. John Grisham. The Firm [1991]. New York, Vintage Books, 2016.

2. John Grisham. A Painted House [2001]. New York, Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2012. 

Eyebrows: Fashion (1) and Psychology (2, 3)

1. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/t-magazine/how-to-shave-your-eyebrows.html

2. Nakdimen, K. A. (1978). The Two Faces of Attention: Early Formulations. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 42(2), 97-118.

3. Nakdimen, K. A. (1984). The Physiognomic Basis of Sexual Stereotyping. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 141(4), 499–503.

“The Firm” (post 2) by John Grisham: At the end, protagonist tells wife “I never wanted to be a lawyer anyway,” which may be truth spoken in jest, suggesting author had been an unreliable narrator of his protagonist

“Are you scared, Mitch?”

“Terrified.”

“Me too. This is crazy.”

“But we made it, Abby. We’re alive. We’re safe. We’re together.”

“But what about tomorrow? And the next day?”

“…There are worse things than sailing around the Caribbean with eight million bucks in the bank…"

“Abby,” Mitch said slowly…“I have a confession to make.”

“I’m listening.”

“The truth is, I never wanted to be a lawyer anyway.”

“Oh, really.”

“Naw. Secretly, I’ve always wanted to be a sailor…”

“Then drink up, sailor. Let’s get drunk and make a baby” (1, p. 527).

Comment: After what I quoted in post 1, the novel made no dives into the protagonist’s mind, until the ending quoted above.

Search “unreliable narrator” in this blog for discussion of its relation to multiple personality.

1. John Grisham. The Firm [1991]. New York Vintage Books, 2016. 

“The Firm” (post 1) by John Grisham: Protagonist meets temptress on beach and gives self-contradictory advice

“Something said run. Throw the beer bottle in the ocean. Throw the skirt in the sand. And run like hell. Run to the condo. Lock the door. Lock the windows. Run. Run. Run.

“And something said to relax. It’s harmless fun. Have a few more drinks. If something happens, enjoy it. No one will ever know…"(1, pp. 163-164).

Comment: Many novelists would have expressed the above in terms of Mitch’s contradictory “voices” or “parts” (alternate personalities).

Search “voices,” “parts,” and “self-contradictory” in this blog for past discussions of these clues to multiple personality.

1. John Grisham. The Firm [1991]. New York Vintage Books, 2016.

“The Girl Who Survived” (post 2) by Lisa Jackson: During police interview, Kara switches between her adult and her child-aged personalities

“Neither [of the two police detectives] had interrupted her as she’d gotten lost in thought, the interview room melting away as she was once again a child of seven, witnessing the horror of the night that had altered the course of her life forever. Memories washed over her, some crystal clear…but all so real that…she felt goose bumps rise on the back of her arms…Shivering, she stared straight ahead, blinking to bring herself back to the present” (1, p. 362).

Comment: The above may be understood as either Kara’s psychological age-regression from her current adult age back to age 7; or her switch from her current adult personality to her seven-year-old, child-aged alternate personality, who is psychologically frozen in the time of her childhood trauma.

In multiple personality (a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder), which usually has its onset in childhood, child-aged personalities are the most common kind of alternate personality (2, p. 107-108). Had the author studied or experienced these aspects of multiple personality?

Added Nov. 8: The author never notes that any of her characters had symptoms of multiple personality. Her police call her plot’s resolution “Beyond weird” (1, p. 498).

1. Lisa Jackson. The Girl Who Survived. New York, Zebra Books, 2022.

2. Frank W. Putnam, MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press. 1989.  

“The Girl Who Survived” (post 1) by Lisa Jackson: Protagonist converses with an italicized voice in her head

“…she noticed a newspaper on a nearby rack. The headline screamed:

KILLER IN COLD LAKE MASSACRE TO BE RELEASED

JONAS MCINTYRE TO BE SET FREE

Kara’s stomach soured. Bile rose in her throat…” (1, pp. 32-33).

“…Maybe [Kara thought] once Jonas’s release faded to the background, becoming just another forgotten news story…maybe then she could find a way, somehow, to finally put this all behind her.

‘Oh, sure.

What are the chances of that?’

“Shut up,” she said aloud, hoping to still that horrid little voice in her head, the one that reminded her she would never be normal, always be labeled a freak, forever looked at as the survivor of an unimaginable event” (1, p. 93).

Comment: Search “italicized” in this blog for prior discussions of this way novelists distinguish voices in the head—a common symptom of multiple personality— from ordinary thoughts.

But this novel does not appear to be interested in multiple personality, per se. So why is a symptom of multiple personality in this novel? It probably reflects what I call “multiple personality trait,” which is common among successful novelists.

1. Lisa Jackson. The Girl Who Survived. New York, Zebra Books, 2022. 

“Maeve Rising: Coming Out Trans” (post 2) by Maeve DuVally: Reasons Maeve should have been screened by an expert on multiple personality

“Sometimes when I drank too much on a weekend, I talked to myself, creating an alternative me…” (1, p. 116).

“Increasingly, there were times when heavy drinking no longer worked for me—to still the negative voices…” (1, p. 137).

“…Maeve Chevonne DuVally, a nervous transgender woman who had thought of herself as a man for the first 56 years of her life” (1, p. 121).

Comment: If Maeve created alternative selves, heard voices (of alternate personalities?), and had thought of herself as a man for the first 56 years of her life, why, beyond alcoholism, wasn’t multiple personality (a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder) the most likely diagnosis, especially since “Alcoholism appears to be a particularly common presentation for male MPD patients” (2, p. 128).

1. Maeve DuVally. Maeve Rising: Coming out Trans in Corporate America (a memoir). Sibylline Press, 2023.

2. Frank W. Putnam, MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989. 

“Maeve Rising: Coming Out Trans in Corporate America" by Maeve Duvally: Does the author hear a “voice” or have a “thought” on memoir’s first page?

The first line of the first page is “The voice came out of nowhere,” which apparently refers to the idea “I want to wear makeup tonight” in the middle of the page, but the latter idea is immediately preceded by “a bewildering thought overtook me.”

So it is unclear whether the idea of wanting to wear makeup that night originated as a “voice” or a “thought.”

Comment: What difference does it make?

While a voice could be the voice of an alter ego or an alternate personality, a thought would probably be an idea of the author’s regular self.

Furthermore, since the author used “voice” first and “thought” second, and since hearing voices is less socially acceptable than having thoughts, the switch from “voice” to “thought” might have been self-censorship.

1. Maeve Duvally. Maeve Rising: Coming out Trans in Corporate America (a memoir). Sibylline Press, 2023.

“Liar!” by Fern Michaels: Author’s recurrent character is said to have had imaginary playmates, which she’d insisted were not imaginary

“Luna Sage Bodman [previously featured in Hidden] (1) was bright and charming, with a hint of mischief in her eyes…she was a bit eccentric. At least that was what she preferred to be thought of instead of a weirdo. Now in her midthirties, she had possessed since childhood an innate ability to read people—a gift many found unnerving. Luna’s imaginary playmates, which she’d insisted were only invisible and not imaginary, were the cause of much teasing and mocking. That was until she scared the pants off someone by saying something only that particular person would know…” (2, p. 123).

Comment: To say that a person’s imaginary playmates are not imaginary is to say they are being experienced as real people. When imaginary persons are experienced as real persons, they are called “alternate personalities,” and the person is said to have multiple personality (a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder).

But the author ignores the issue of multiple personality.

Added same day: I finished Liar!. The narrator was the liar!

1. Fern Michaels. Hidden. New York, Zebra Books, 2021.

2. Fern Michaels. Liar!. New York, Zebra Books, 2023.