Dear Glen:
I don’t want to rehash the question of whether Tony is a sociopath. I’m convinced by your argument that he is not and that he suffers from a vertical split. Given that fact, however, what are we to make of the way he is proceeding with his split? His “bad” side could be manipulating Jennifer like a good sociopath.
You say you are not terribly impressed with his therapeutic progress and that Jennifer is doing about the best she can with someone like Tony. Does that mean we’re just granting Chase’s aesthetic conceit—namely, that somebody like Tony can be treated—in order to study a very interesting set of psychological dynamics? Or, would you say there would really be a prospect of someone like Tony healing that split? In other words, what sort of exercise are we involved in here?
Joel
