“The Talented Mr. Ripley” (post 1) by Patricia Highsmith: Tom Ripley thinks of himself in the Third-person, inadvertently suggesting multiple personality

“Slowly he took off his jacket and untied his tie, watching every move he made as if it were somebody else’s movements he was watching. Astonishing how much straighter he was standing now, what a different look there was in his face. It was one of the few times in his life that he felt pleased with himself” (1, p. 15).

Comment: The above suggests a switch to an alternate personality, but is not identified as such, because multiple personality is not an explicit issue in the novel, and may only reflect the multiple personality trait of the author.

Added same day: This novel re-uses the basic plot of Henry James's The Ambassadors, in which the protagonist is explicitly said to have "double-consciousness," a synonym for multiple personality. Search "Ambassadors" in this blog to see my posts.

Also search "double-consciousness" in this blog.

 

And Added July 9: In fact, Jamesian scholars, with a book load of facts and analysis (2), accuse James of pervasive and serial duplicity, both moral (deceit) and literary (doubling), in both fiction and nonfiction. And they can’t explain it, but multiple personality might. 2. Tredy D, Duperray A, Harding A (eds.): Henry James and the Poetics of Duplicity. Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

1. Patricia Highsmith. The Talented Mr. Ripley. New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 1955.