Editing Norman Bates (section)

==Character overview==
Both the 1959 novel and its [[Psycho (1960 film)|1960 film adaptation]] explain that Norman suffered severe [[emotional abuse]] as a child at the hands of his mother, [[Norma Bates (Psycho)|Norma]], who preached to him that [[sexual intercourse]] was sinful and that all women (except herself) were whores. The novel also suggests that their relationship may have been [[incest]]uous.

After Norman's father died, Norman and his mother lived alone together "as if there was no one else in the world" until Norman was a teenager, when his mother met Joe Considine (Chet Rudolph in ''Psycho IV: The Beginning'') and planned to marry. Considine eventually convinced Norma to open a motel. Driven over the edge with jealousy, Norman [[murder]]ed both of them with [[strychnine]]. After committing the murders, Norman forged his mother's suicide note to make it look like she had killed Considine and then herself. After a brief hospitalization for shock, he developed a [[dissociative identity disorder|split personality]], assuming his mother's personality to repress his awareness of her death and thus escape the guilt of murdering her.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Peter|last=Breslow|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91947125|title=Norman Bates: A Most Terrifying Mama's Boy|work=[[NPR.org]]|date=July 1, 2008|access-date=October 26, 2017}}</ref> He inherited his mother's house—where he kept her corpse in the fruit cellar—and the motel in the fictional small town of Fairvale, California.
 
Norman's "Mother" personality is as cruel and possessive as the real Norma had been in life, frequently berating him and forbidding him to have a life outside of her. As "Mother", he dresses in Norma's clothes and talks to himself in her voice, and he also speaks to her corpse as if it is alive. "Mother" also kills women whom Norman feels attracted to, and anyone else who threatens the illusion of her existence. Norman passes out when "Mother" takes control; after "Mother" commits a murder, Norman awakens and destroys the evidence, convinced that "she" alone is responsible for the crime.

Bloch sums up Norman's multiple personalities in his stylistic form of [[pun]]s: "Norman", a child needing his mother; "Norma", a controlling, mean-spirited parent figure; and "Normal", a functional adult who goes through the motions of day-to-day life.<ref name="psychobook">{{cite book|first = Robert|last = Bloch|author-link=Robert Bloch|title = Psycho|publisher = [[Simon & Schuster]]|location = New York City|year = 1959|isbn = 978-1590203354}}</ref>