Sybil Book Report

1087 Words5 Pages
Sybil I have always heard about the movie Sybil, but never watched it until now. A lot of people say how insane or crazy Sybil is/was. Maybe it’s because I have a wider vocabulary or better understanding about disorders, that I would not use those terms. There is a reason behind every action, therefore there was a reason she was so different. Our society tends to label things or people that are out of our norm, different, crazy, or insane. But what is normal? Do we judge what’s normal by your standard or by mine? On January 25th 1923 a woman named Shirley Ardell Mason, also known as Sybil Isabel Dorsett (Shepard) was born. Sybil was born and raised in Dodge Center, Minnesota. She was a substitute teacher and an art student. The book and movie use the name Sybil to protect her identity. Sybil grew up in “Willow Corners, in a home of extremely strong religious beliefs. Every Sunday was a day if rest. Sybil was not even allowed to attend birthday parties on the Sabbath day. The religious feelings were so strong in the home, which Sybil was not even allowed to read or say anything but the truth. She loved writing stories, but was forbidden to, and could not even listen to fairy tales. This lack of freedom to do what she loved led to one of her alternating selves, Peggy Lou. As a child, Sybil went through so much. Mattie (also called Mattie Hattie) Sybil’s mother subjected her to horrifying abuse. She would do things such as push her and even went as far as breaking her larynx. Hattie also had a series of morning rituals in which she would abuse Sybil in different days. One of these rituals included Sybil being tied to a piano with a cloth in her mouth while Hattie played Bach and Mozart. Other times, Hattie would pour cold water into Sybil’s bladder while she was hanging upside down, and then force her to hold it in. Sometimes her mother would even put
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