Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Psycho

Direct Characterization

Perhaps the most important bit of characterization in the film comes at the very end, when the psychiatrist (Dr. Fred Richman) just comes right out and tells you everything about how Norman works:

RICHMAN: So he began to think and speak for her, give her half his time, so to speak. At times he could be both personalities, carry on conversations. At other times, the mother half took over completely. Now he was never all Norman, but he was often only mother.

Richman not only tells you who Norman is (a split-personality murderer). He also turns Norman into a case. Norman's personality isn't really a personality; it's a symptom. He is his illness —and of course, if you are your illness, then a doctor knows you better than you know yourself.

Actions

Marion steals money. In some sense this is out of character. Marion worked for the real estate office for ten years, and her boss clearly trusts her; he doesn't think twice before giving her $40,000 to take to the bank. Stealing isn't the sort of thing Marion would do; even Marion says it's as if she went mad briefly.

But on the other hand, what you do is maybe more important than what people say about you. Marion's act of criminality is the big truth about her in the film. Just as Norman has a self no one knows, Marion's actions indicate she (at least sometimes) isn't the person she and others think she is.

Occupation

A couple of characters are little more than their occupations. Arbogast is a private detective; he snoops around. That's pretty much his personality.

This is even more the case for Fred Richman, the psychiatrist. The only thing he does in the film is be a psychiatrist; he just appears at the end to diagnose Norman. He's the knowing, measured voice who understands madness and perversity. His character is his occupation.