Patty Hearst

The manifest events of Patricia Hearst's adventure into the unknown are embedded in popular imagination. On the night of February 4, 1974, Patricia Campbell Hearst, heiress to the Hearst publishing empire, was forcibly taken from her Berkeley, Calif., apartment by two men (Donald DeFreeze, Bill Harris) and one woman (Angela Atwood), in the process beating her live-in companion, Stephen Weed. Hearst and Weed were both students at the University of California, Berkeley. The FBI was called into the case immediately. Over the next two months, the abduction became a mass-media event, punctuated by various demands and one "ransom" in the form of food distribution to the poor. No less significant were the series of written and audiotape "communiquTs" containing the voice of Hearst, as well as that of leader of the group that revealed itself to be the agent of the event: the Symbionese Liberaton Army, or SLA.

Initially, Hearst was heard on audiotape stating that she wanted to "get out of h

. . .
ays, "has nothing to offer here except the narcissistic satisfaction of being able to think oneself better than others" (Freud, 1961, p. 76). As applied to Patricia Hearst, the analyses of Freud and Marx support the contention that she absorbed the values of the dominant culture and lived the privileged side of alienation completely, essentially being brainwashed by her wealthy, influential family. Only after being confronted with the realities of inhuman existence did she achieve insight into the reality of human experience at the level of society and culture. Her transformation took about eight weeks, but her growing sympathy with the values of the SLA can be discerned in an audio message as early as two weeks after the abduction: "I am being treated in accordance with international codes of war. And . . . it's very important to the SLA that I return safely" (Stone, 2005). By April 3, 1974, Hearst's transformation had become complete, as demonstrated by a now-famous audiotape: Mom, Dad. Tell the poor and oppressed people of this nation what the corporate state is about to do. Warn Black and poor people that . . . the removal of expendable excess, the removal of unneeded people, has already started. I have been given the choice
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Marx Freud, Patty Hearst, Neurosis Freud, Dr Kozol, Freud Marx, Liberation Army, Che Guevara, Freud Marx's, William Harris, Patricia Soltysik, patty hearst, krassner 2002, stockholm syndrome, human experience, stone 2005, oppressed people, miller 2002, freedom oppressed people, freedom oppressed, fuselier 1999, hearst's own, symbionese liberation army, forces symbionese liberation, liberation army fighting, safe joining forces,
Approximate Word count = 3197
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Patty Hearst