Charles Manson: a Look at is Childhood, Life and Crimes

Charles Manson

Charles Manson was born on November 12th, 1934 in Cincinnati. From the very beginning, he was lonely. His mom, Kathleen Maddox, was only 16, unmarried, which made her feel very alone and overwhelmed. The father of Charles Manson is Colonel Scott, who had only known Kathleen for short period of time, wasn’t around for any of Charles’ childhood. Charles Manson stated that his mother went to prison for 5 years, on account of strong armed robbery, leaving Charles in his uncle’s care. Kathleen looked very motherly looking, but underneath, took a more undedicated and uncaring role of a mother who didn’t want her child. She was a prostitute, against the best option for her child. While his mother was in prison, Charles would go visit her in the prison visiting room. He dreamt of living life with his mother throughout his childhood, instead of the life he was living. During many of his early childhood years, he spent in the small town of McMeccan, West Virginia, with his Aunt and Uncle. When he was 9 years old he set the school on fire, after another Uncle of his spoke about how public schooling was bad. Charles Manson was then sent to reform school. During 1942 and 1947, Charles lived with his mother and her various lovers. She wasn’t able to put him into a foster home, so she sent him to a school for boys. 10 months later, he ran away to find her, but after being rejected by her, Charles Manson realized that his mother wasn’t any good. He said that the only thing his mother taught him was that he could never trust anyone about anything. He ran away again, and started his life of crime. In 1949, he was sent to ‘Boy’s Town’. Charles continued running away and continuing his life of crimes. His punishments started getting more and more severe, as did his crimes.

The person is subjected to entrapment

Charles Manson “collected” followers as he grew older, moving across the state of California, living in remote areas, not visible by the public eye. He would drug them, and act like he used the same drugs, but he didn’t. He only made his followers use certain drugs so they wouldn’t be as likely to be able to think on their own, with good judgment. Entrapment relates to Charles Manson’s life in many ways, because he would be in control of his followers without their knowledge. Charles Manson had followers, they lived together, committed crimes together, and he got them to do things they wouldn’t have normally done, if they would have been in complete control of themselves. Manson basically brainwashed the people he called his “followers”. He got them to commit murder for him, without him having to get his “hands dirty”.

The person’s problems, personal and political, are explained by one simple attribution

Charles Manson took control of the lives of his few followers, and turned them into himself. Without their conscious knowledge, he changed their whole outlook on the world, into the way he viewed society and the people in it. This is how he got his followers to commit the various murders, which he thought would help the impending race war, helter skelter. He changed the outlook of bad and good to the Manson Family, and convinced them that this would help the upcoming race war for the better. He made them think that the people he got them to murder were bad, and were causing trouble for society, that it would help by killing them.Charles Manson made his followers think that certain people were bad, others were good, depending on what his personal opinion of them were, even if they didn’t think that way in the start. He convinced them that this was the “right” and the “best” thing to do.

Charles Manson’s followers listened to him, and were blind to what he was really planning. Manson would have his followers mimic his actions or words, which subconsciously made them lose their identity, and adopt his. He practically created replicas of himself into those people, which made it easier for him to convince into doing actions for him. Charles’ followers would take the drug Acid, which is a very serious, heavy drug, which would cause them to be totally out of control of themselves, but Charles himself, would not take Acid, so he would be in control of them. He would make them die inside, lose themselves. He got rid of all of the conditioning, until they believed anything he said, made them think the way he thinks. He would reenact the crucifixion while his followers were on LSD, and they claimed for it to be so realistic. He would tell them that he would die for them, convince them that he would sacrifice everything for them, and ask if they would do the same for him. They would believe almost anything he said, they were cut off from the world, from society. All they knew was him, and whatever he wanted them to know. Charles knew everything that was going on in the community at the time, but didn’t update any of his followers about anything, except the things he wanted them to know.

Charles Manson and his followers stayed in remote places throughout California, cut off from society. All his followers knew about what was going on is only what Charles wanted them to know. He limited their knowledge of information and current events, to be able to brainwash them into being his followers. Manson wiped out who they were before, what they think, and replaced everything with his own thoughts, desires, actions, etc. He would fill their mind with information that even though wasn’t true, they thought it was because they didn’t know better, they didn’t have any way to prove he was wrong.

The way he limited their knowledge of things was almost as if he was able to filter out every little speck of information they were offered, deciding only to let them know things that would be beneficial to him, things against the public and things he disliked. They were not able to have a full view of the world, to be able to make good judgments and good choices of their own. Charles Manson’s followers relate to kids in a way because of their lack of ability to make decisions for them. Parents always choose what is best for their child to know at certain ages, and they filter information to them, which is exactly how Charles treated his followers.