Jared Cruz
Professor Estrada
American Lit. 1
April 18th, 2015
Word Count: 1,799
Gravity: An Analysis of Insanity in Wieland
To some, the definition of madness is a state in which one is mentally unstable and filled with irrationality. To others like famous scientist Albert Einstein, true insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results every time. Regardless of how it is defined, one fact about insanity or madness remains true to this day and can be summed up by one quote from perhaps the most famous insane character of all time, the Joker: “Madness, as you know, is like gravity... All it takes is a little push!” This very idea of insanity and how susceptible to madness the mind can be is a central theme throughout Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland. In the novel, one of the primary forces behind everyone's growing paranoia and dementia are a series of voices that literally cause the protagonist's brother, Theodore Wieland, to murder his wife and children. Of course the voices not only affect Theodore, but rather the entire community as a whole, namely the protagonist herself. Clara Wieland is just as easily prone to the insanity that overcomes her circle of friends and family. Many times throughout the novel, Clara demonstrates various qualities of irrationality, such as contemplating suicide and struggling to maintain grasp onto reality. While these are prime examples of madness within the novel, one's sanity that often goes unchecked is that of the perpetrator himself: Francis Carwin. Of course Clara and Theodore as well as their grand uncle, exhibit common signs of madness: Hallucination, Delusion, elevated mood and emotional liability. At first, signs suggest that Carwin wasn't subject to the same madness symptoms as the Wielands, but if the joker has taught us anything in his wacky and volatile shenanigans with the Batman, it is that there are other ways to be mad. Madness afflicts all three characters and as such, is a central theme to the story.
Many would argue that Wieland's affliction was not really madness, but just devotion to religion instead, but the text in today's context hold to insanity as the primary cause. In the world we know today, the most common symptoms of mental illness are as follows: emotional instability, hallucination, aggression, and a skewed sense of morality. Theodore Wieland exhibits nearly all of these traits throughout the story. In early chapters Wieland begins hearing mysterious voices along with Clara. It is later in the story that we discover that these voices had been telling him to sacrifice his wife and kids. He reasoned that the voice had must have been god directing his path and as such, must sacrifice them. The fact that he did it at all is a clear sign of one of the symptoms: Skewed sense of Morality. A proposal on the moral basis of the insanity defense refers to insanity to explain one's actions and documents a case similar to Theodore Wieland. A court case within the proposal describes one Joy Baker, who committed the crime of killing her aunt. “According to her account, which no one has ever doubted, she became increasingly agitated and fearful in days prior to the shooting; she was worried that her dogs, children and neighbors were becoming possessed by the devil and that she herself was going to be 'annihilated'. On the morning of the shooting she ran frantically throughout the house clutching a gun to her breast.” The case goes on to explain that Baker's aunt had arrived to check on her. It was then that Joy Baker shot and killed her aunt. When her aunt. Lying in the mud bleeding out, questioned Joy's actions, she only said that her aunt was the devil and that she was there to hurt her. (Bonnie, 194) This certainly maintains the point in that Theodore Wieland also committed his crimes without taking into the account of the moral implications of his actions and rather sees them as justifiable in the eyes of the lord. Chapter nineteen of the novel describes many of Wieland's actions and many of them can be listed as symptoms of insanity including the aforementioned skewed sense of morals. During the walk Clara's house, Wieland's behavior became more unusual. “I know not why emotions that were perpetual visitants should have recurred with unusual energy.”: Emotional instability. The voices that he constantly hears throughout the story: hallucination. The blow that destroyed Louisa's entire face whilst Catherine was strangled: Aggression. All symptoms of insanity. The most critical aspect of Wieland's madness is still the skewed sense of morality. In the final chapters of the story, Wieland finally realizes that severity of his actions and commits suicide. Morality comes into play here in that Wieland's own morals were clouded by the voice's commands and that once freed from their grasp, he is overwhelmed by his actions and how immoral they were. Wieland's case and Joy Baker's case are eerily similar in that both killed family members and both had a certain affinity for religion. By modern standards and referencing Joy Baker, it is likely that Wieland was a case of insanity rather than blind devotion.
Of course Clara Wieland also falls victim to the madness of the novel. Time and time again she has demonstrated various symptoms of madness. For one, her inability to discern reality from imagination is brought up multiple times through the novel and despite her attempts to rationalize the events that befall her, she is ultimately unable to do so. In chapter six Clara is exposed to a scene in which she experiences voices and whispers as she slept. The voices were conspiring to murder her and debating the methods in which they were going to carry out the deed. Frightened, she fled to her brother's house and promptly fainted on the doorstep. Her friends passed it off as merely a dream in which she vehemently assures that it was indeed real. Clara has proven that she is in a heightened emotional state in which real and fake may be blurred. This is expanded on in chapter seven in which she falls asleep and yet again begins to hear a voice. The daydream she has seems to flow so perfectly into her experience with the voice that it really seems like it could have been a dream. The ambiguous nature of her narration really has the potential to deceive the reader into believing that it truly is a hallucination; a prime example of madness. Clara actually interacts with the reader and points out that her testimony might not be as sound but states that there really isn't any evidence to specify otherwise. These thoughts of uncertainty and acknowledgment of the reader's own confusion help solidify her position as an unreliable narrator. This is closely examined by James Russo in a paper covering Clara's mental instability throughout Wieland.
“The dreamer's inability to run away despite danger, the lunatic discussion of the two voices attempting to resolve the method of her execution, and the fact that the whole thing begins at midnight by the stroke of that fateful clock all suggest that Clara is dreaming. So does the fact that she flees through a series of locked doors without remembering unlocking them.” (Russo, 64)
Russo then further explains that while Carwin's confession provides some validity to her testimony, it is ultimately called into question when taking in the consideration of the possible mental state of the person narrating the story. Russo claims Carwin's confession is “contradictory, incoherent, and improbable.” Whether truly insane or just emotionally unsure of herself, the fact remains that Clara herself is more than likely suffering from madness. Not exactly the same as her homicidal brother's but rather caught in between dreamer and rationalist.
Provided that Clara's interpretation of Carwin's confession was true, then Carwin himself could also be subject to a certain kind of madness. Being the main antagonist and instigator of the Wieland tragedy, one must question Carwin's mental state. One would have to be truly mad to go to the levels that Carwin had went to. From hiding in Clara's closet, to manipulating and throwing his voice to deceive others, Carwin's intent were much less than benevolent. Carwin it can be debated that Carwin wasn't inherently evil during his time with the Wielands, that he simply curious or mischievous yet Carwin commits acts that, by today's standards, are evil. His confession in chapter 26 is filled with a great number of pauses and stutters. “The answer was now given, but confusedly and scarcely articulated. "I meant nothing—I intended no ill—if I understand—if I do not mistake you—it is too true—I did appear—in the entry—did speak. The contrivance was mine, but—" What this tells the reader is that Carwin is definitely capable of experiencing guilt, yet Carwin's motive for doing many of his actions are highly unusual. The reason Carwin did the murderous dialogue in Clara's bedchamber was simply to test her courage. The issue is not in his curiosity of Clara's fortitude, but rather the method in which he decided to ascertain this knowledge: Hiding in her closet and invading her privacy. In this sense, Carwin's madness is comparable to the Joker's own insanity. The joker has always been known to test Batman, to goad him into stopping him. In an article covering the Joker's brand of insanity, Anthony Kolenic states that “the Joker sees himself as one who simply ‘‘does things,’’ like a ‘‘dog chasing cars,’’ (Kolenic, 1031) The core narrative (or lack thereof) of the Joker is that the reason he causes so much death and destruction is pure curiosity. The Joker and Carwin can be seen as operating on the same wavelengths. Both are in complete control of their actions yet do things that would give readers and viewers a reason to label them insane. They both have this sort of controlled insanity that is used in both character's narratives to cause pain. The difference between the Joker and Carwin however, is that Carwin actually feels guilt whereas the Joker doesn't give a damn.
Within Charles Brockden Brown's novel, lies a plethora of themes to be explored but none so unbelievably ambiguous as the nature of Madness among the characters. Theodore was a victim of misguided devotion that clouded his judgment and affected his morality. Clara was a victim of her own mind and was forever doomed (at least until her house burned down) to be trapped between dreams and reality, only defined by her incoherent recollections. Carwin was the agent of chaos that was the catalyst for all the events to transpire. Madness is a central theme to all the characters and manifests itself in different ways, proving time and time again that insanity can overtake and shatter the world around you. For the Joker, Madness is just a good laugh.

Works Cited
Bonnie, Richard J. "The Moral Basis Of The Insanity Defense." American Bar Association Journal 69.2 (1983): 194. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
KOLENIC, ANTHONY J. "Madness In The Making: Creating And Denying Narratives From Virginia Tech To 6Gotham City."Journal Of Popular Culture 42.6 (2009): 1023-1039. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
Russo, James R. "'THE CHIMERAS OF THE BRAIN': CLARA's NARRATIVE IN Wieland." Early American Literature 16.1 (1981): 60.Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.