64 pages • 2 hours read
Patric GagneSociopath: A Memoir
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Pursuit of Normalcy and Assimilation
Patric Gagne’s narrative is marked by the distinctive thought processes and behaviors that set her apart from her peers and family. As a sociopath, she must navigate a world where her authentic self is at odds with the values and expectations of others. Her lack of social emotions, such as empathy and guilt, are out of tune with a society that demands strong emotional responses and adherence to moral codes. Within this context, the memoir captures her internal struggles and the external pressures to conform to societal norms.
From an early age, Patric knows that she is considered abnormal. From other people’s reactions, she realizes that her natural behavior and responses are viewed as inappropriate. At the same time, she feels powerless to change her sociopathic traits and conform to societal expectations. Her lack of social emotions is inherent, as is her lack of a moral compass, meaning the boundaries between “right” and “wrong” seem arbitrary and unclear. Patric’s inability to do the right thing is illustrated when her ferret Baby dies. Her apathetic response to the death upsets her mother, who wants her daughter to display grief. However, to fake the emotion would be to breach her mother’s rule of honesty. The incident underscores the impossibility of achieving true normalcy as a sociopath. Patric cannot be authentic without provoking distress, confusion, or fear.
Sociopath explores the impact of being “othered” on identity and self-perception. As a child, Patric’s inability to fulfill her mother’s expectation of “a normal kid with normal reactions” (39) is a constant source of anxiety, described by the author as “stuck stress.” Alienated from her peers, her ongoing desire for invisibility isolates her further. However, in early adulthood, she realizes that “[t]he trick to going unnoticed was not to isolate but to infiltrate, to assimilate” (96). Patric makes herself socially acceptable to her peers by mimicking their facial expressions and gestures, conforming to what they want her to be. The tactic is successful, but Patric finds adopting this disguise mentally draining.
The author also highlights the injustice of attitudes that consider sociopaths manipulative and untrustworthy precisely because they fake social emotions such as empathy. Gagne emphasizes that this behavior is not “the offshoot of some voluntary deal with the devil” but “a coping mechanism born of necessity” (301). She underlines how societal expectations demand that sociopaths mask their true selves and then judge them for the deception.
Patric’s journey toward self-acceptance in the memoir involves finding a delicate balance between maintaining her individuality and adapting to society’s expectations. She accepts that, while she cannot change her core identity as a sociopath, she can learn to alter her antisocial behaviors. As she gains a better understanding of herself, she also begins to challenge the concept of “normalcy” as an entirely desirable state. Observing the amorality of supposedly normal people like Jennifer and Arianne, she realizes that experiencing social emotions often leads to bad behavior that is not so different from her apathy-induced misdemeanors. Underscoring the challenges of being different in a world that values uniformity, the author suggests that “normal” is not necessarily always better.
The Ethical Considerations of Sociopathy
Society’s negative view of sociopaths springs from the desire to live by a common moral code. Sociopaths are perceived as threatening because their behaviors undermine accepted ethical principles and norms. Their lack of empathy and remorse, combined with antisocial and sometimes violent actions, oppose the values considered necessary to maintain social order and protect individuals from harm. In Sociopath, Gagne acknowledges this perception of sociopaths while offering a more nuanced picture of the role of ethics in her disorder. The author conveys life’s challenges for those without an inherent moral compass. She also suggests that, despite viewing the world from a different ethical perspective, being a sociopath does not make her a “bad” person.
Throughout the memoir, Gagne is honest about her lack of the social emotions that tend to promote ethical behavior in other people. An absence of empathy means she struggles to understand the feelings and sufferings of others. Meanwhile, her disregard for rules and laws leads to impulsive, illegal, and sometimes violent actions. At the same time, the insight Gagne offers into her thought processes conveys the challenges of emotional detachment, which she likens to an “emotional learning disability” (113). While her mother tries to teach her right from wrong, Patric does not “understand why these things mattered” (6). Unable to feel guilt or fear the consequences of her actions, she has none of the components necessary for ethical decision-making.
The memoir also highlights the social pressure to show morally appropriate emotions. For example, Patric’s mother finds her lack of remorse after stabbing Sydney with a pencil as disturbing as the act itself. While Patric feels she is punished for an affliction she is powerless to control, she is also glad that she does not experience guilt. Noting how the emotion seems to incapacitate David and her friend Everly, she concludes “that guilt was a state of mind designed to oppress, not set free” (218).
Gagne emphasizes how, without an inbuilt conscience, it is difficult for sociopaths to lead ethical lives. However, by recounting her own struggles, she demonstrates that it is possible to develop a personal code, imposing limits on one’s behavior. Stabbing Sydney with a pencil teaches Patric that, of all antisocial behaviors, violence gives her the greatest sense of release. Nevertheless, her key rule of conduct becomes to avoid physically harming anyone else. Patric prevents herself from committing more serious crimes by “prescribing” herself regular transgressions she considers minor, such as stalking and illegal trespassing. Although these misdeeds are immoral by societal standards, they represent a significant effort of will, while “[s]uccumbing to [her] darkest compulsions was effortless and required no energy” (50).
In exploring the ethics of sociopathy, the memoir also highlights the immoral behavior of non-sociopaths. Despite her own difficulties with ethics, Patric can distinguish between naturally “good” people like Harlowe and those lacking in principles. Consequently, her antisocial behavior frequently targets people whom she judges to be morally corrupt. For example, Gagne’s decision to lock Sydney and Tina out in the dark is motivated by her belief that the sisters are needlessly malicious. Despite having the tools to distinguish right from wrong, their behavior is deliberately cruel. Patric’s belief that non-sociopaths should be held to higher moral standards continues into adulthood when she develops a hatred for “fauxiopath” Jennifer. Through these examples, the author highlights how possessing social emotions does not automatically equate to virtue.
Ultimately, the memoir challenges the demonization of sociopaths as dangerous, immoral outliers. Frankly recounting her own challenges in navigating ethics, Gagne underlines that sociopaths cannot help their lack of a conventional compass. However, she suggests that, like their non-sociopathic counterparts, they can choose to be “good” or “bad.” The author demonstrates that while her moral lens may be different from neurotypical individuals, she nevertheless has her own codes of conduct and is capable of moral reasoning and self-control.
The Reframing of Sociopathy
Gagne’s memoir seeks to reshape and broaden readers’ understanding of sociopathy. The narrative counteracts harmful stereotypes of sociopaths as well as challenging ingrained medical beliefs about the condition. By presenting a nuanced portrayal of her inner life, Gagne calls for a more educated and compassionate acceptance of the disorder.
Gagne points out that “sociopath” has become a loaded term “that evokes far more emotion than it does analysis” (viii). The disorder prompts negative emotions in others, mainly due to popular culture’s representation of sociopaths as dangerous and manipulative individuals (See: Background). Rather than a debilitating medical condition, sociopathy tends to be viewed as a moral failing or lifestyle choice that has an adverse impact on others. Gagne highlights the irony that, while sociopaths are villainized for their lack of empathy, society shows a distinct lack of empathy for those living with the challenging condition.
The memoir attempts to reframe negative stereotypes by placing its emphasis on Patric’s inner life as a sociopath. Her first-person narrative reveals frustration at her inability to access social emotions and her consequent sense of alienation. Patric’s assertion, “I want friends. I want to connect. But I can’t. it’s like I’m starving, but food makes me sick” (141) stresses her own social vulnerabilities. Her frequent use of such analogies helps convey her often-conflicted state of mind to non-sociopathic readers.
Gagne further attempts to destigmatize sociopathy through comparisons to other neurodivergent conditions. Her concept of the condition as a spectrum involving various degrees of social impairment for different individuals resembles autism spectrum disorder. Meanwhile, she compares her antisocial urges to obsessive compulsive disorder, “Only instead of washing my hands or counting sidewalk squares, I liked to follow strangers and break into houses” (79). Depicting sociopathy as “a feeling disability” (32), she asserts that those who have the condition are worthy of the same kind of support and understanding that other disabilities receive.
Gagne’s narrative also contests the medical profession’s view of sociopathy as a largely untreatable condition with a poor prognosis. Using her own theories and knowledge of psychology, Patric devises a bespoke treatment plan that gradually improves her symptoms. Despite her limited emotional range, she also demonstrates the ability to form genuine connections and experience personal growth in the course of the narrative. Her love for her husband and children challenges the view that sociopaths cannot form strong emotional attachments. Furthermore, her success as a therapist defies the notion that sociopaths are incapable of functioning in society through legitimate means.
By challenging stereotypes and misconceptions about sociopathy, Gagne’s narrative seeks to foster empathy and understanding. Readers are encouraged to recognize and shed the prejudice that clouds perceptions of the condition and those who have it. The author suggests that only then will sociopaths receive the support and treatment afforded to other medical conditions.
