Schizophrenia is a common illness that may cause people to see or hear things that aren’t real and exist only in that person's mind. It can affect how people differentiate the line between fantasy and reality. People with this disease often make things up things that never happened. Although not always specifically stated, this disease exists in fictional characters as well as real life. In “The Hitchhiker”, by Anthony Horowitz, the narrator Jacob most likely has schizophrenia, because he sees things that aren't there, and mistakes his inner suspicions for reality. Although Jacob’s story is fictional, the symptoms he experiences, such as hallucinations and suspicions, are very real and can happen to anyone in real life.

In “The Hitchhiker”, Anthony …show more content…
A common symptom of schizophrenia are hallucinations. Hallucinations are sounds or visions that are experienced as real, when they only actually exist in the person's mind. Often, a person takes something completely normal and believes it is harmful and becomes paranoid. (“Schizophrenia” 1). Jacob experiences hallucinations when the hitchhiker is first brought in to the car. The setting during this story already is dark and rainy on an isolated road. Jacob already feels uncomfortable with the stranger in the car and to make matters worse, he thinks he sees, “something glistening on his skin” (Horowitz 203). Jacob thinks this is blood and immediately gets suspicious. Later, Jacob looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the strangers last name RELLIK backwards