Dutch Van Der Linde (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
faithandplans) wrote2021-06-19 02:57 pm
faithandplans) wrote2021-06-19 02:57 pm
Some armchair psychiatry and possible history.
Dutch has a very complex psychology which I approach in the same way I would a cult leader, or a violent criminal (on account that he is technically both.)
In his younger years, he spent his life without a father figure. There's a reason behind why he ran off to be on his own at such a young age. Perhaps he was neglected by his mother, or abused, or both. In fact, he heard from another relative that she'd died years prior to their talking, which points to him having more than a strained relationship with her. He also fights for the memory of his father, which means either he idolized his father, of whom he saw little, or was drawn to the idea of his father being a better parent in comparison to his mother. Either way, his mind was bent towards self-sufficiency and independence far earlier than most children. I won't likely go into detail about his childhood at any great length in character, as he keeps things close to his vest in most matters that don't involve his history with Hosea and the rest.
Also as a child, I believe he had formal schooling, albeit not the most all-encompassing. He can read, write, do math, and knows about history and literature rather well. However, I believe he is of average intelligence, regardless of his pomp and put-on mask of intellect. He has a quick mind, however, or at least had one, which I'll get into later. His knowledge mostly consists of street smarts, though he can talk a good talk. I believe he hides his self-consciousness under the mask of intellect and false decisiveness, and in so doing, he can keep his ego inflated.
Dutch is a very shallow man, under all that false intellect and the mask of a worldly, cultured gentleman. This can be seen by his quoting one book frequently, his moving from one lover to another - according to others, due to them aging out of his tastes in looks - and his demeanor of saying he has a plan, when he's really just flying by the seat of his pants, like everyone else. He uses his status of leadership to garner the admiration, loyalty and attention to which he feels he's entitled, and when he feels a lack of it, it throws him into a spiral of feeling like he has no control over the situation. He's obsessed with being in control. It may stem from his younger life in which he had no control over what was going on around him, and he was made to feel powerless and neglected.
His motivation isn't necessarily greed per se. I believe he IS in search of pure freedom to do as he pleases. He's the true anarchist, inasmuch as he's a believer in the right to self-govern in a very myopic scale. If one person can keep their shit together while they do whatever they want, they're doing what all humans have a right to do. He doesn't like the interference of law, government, society, and corporate business, and will rage against it, as he feels that structure in this nature hinders mankind. His ultimate cornerstone is that every man is an island. His motivation to live freely hinges upon the knowledge that to get what he wants, he has to play into society's rules, which vexes him.
Vanity is another handicap under which Dutch operates. While he doesn't ascribe to the concept of civilized society, he dresses appropriately for one who is of upperclass means, and plays that part. He's obsessed with his self image, and how others perceive him. How he reacts to others is dependent upon how they treat him - or at least what face he shows to them - and how much they can offer him. If they show anything other than awe, kindness, loyalty or admiration, he overthinks those little slights and then explodes over those slights later. He lets those seeming insults to him pile up until he's festering in those thoughts, and he takes it out on the first thing that gives him the impetus to release.
In all fairness, none of this means he's not easily swayed by outside forces. In fact, the way to gain his unwavering attention is to ply him with platitudes. He's swayed by those who suck up to him. Toadyism is his kryptonite, in a way very little else is. You can see this in action with Micah. Micah knows how to keep Dutch's attention by treating him like a king, and boasting over his hard work for the sake of the camp. Dutch takes notice of how Micah treats him, and listens to him more than others, because he likes feeling more important.
Coming back around to his quick mind, I believe that at some point in his recent past, his already bent mind was bent further. Whether it be the loss of his paramour Annabelle, or a brain injury, or some other stressor, he's lost his ability to think clearly, and is quicker to sacrifice his ideals of helping others and saving the innocents, to get what he came for. He's more scattered in the mind than he had been prior to Blackwater, and while the others in the camp say they've been through worse, Dutch seems to act like this is the worst hardship he's encountered. "You'll work it out, Dutch, you always do." But you see him struggling to work anything out. With the outside interference of Micah and conflicting opinions, the stress of having to move farther away from their goals for survival, the loss of members of his gang, and the mess of losing an important lump sum of money which meant the loss of being close to his dreams of freedom stressed him into becoming scattered. He is mostly enraged at himself, though he takes it out on the rest of the gang for not doing enough to get them back on their feet.
I truly believe at one point, Dutch DID want to be the Robin Hood type character in his own story; giving to the needy and taking from the rich and powerful. He believes in equality for all, even through his hardships, but he's losing sight of his ideals and desires, which are taking a back seat to running from the things that he wishes to fight against. He's starting to realize that this is a war he cannot win. The age of freedom as he knows it is taking a back burner to the westward expansion, encroaching civilization, law, and order.
I also want to make a point of his manipulative behavior. He's not necessarily physically abusive, but he has a quick temper. He absolutely has the capability to be emotionally manipulative, and frequently shows it by way of how he twists people into doing what he wants. He's no star champ at this like Micah is, but he knows how to make people see things his way by way of persuasion. He rewards loyal behavior, and punishes disloyalty with deadly force if necessary. He's a manipulator indeed, but can also be easily manipulated, himself.
All in all, from a layperson standpoint, I feel that Dutch exhibits symptoms of cluster-B personality disorders, primarily those of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. With a struggling childhood, shows of self-importance, grandiose behavior, a need for excessive admiration, and a vulnerable self-esteem which can make him lash out when it's so much as rattled, I feel fairly confident that he suffers from this mental illness.
In his younger years, he spent his life without a father figure. There's a reason behind why he ran off to be on his own at such a young age. Perhaps he was neglected by his mother, or abused, or both. In fact, he heard from another relative that she'd died years prior to their talking, which points to him having more than a strained relationship with her. He also fights for the memory of his father, which means either he idolized his father, of whom he saw little, or was drawn to the idea of his father being a better parent in comparison to his mother. Either way, his mind was bent towards self-sufficiency and independence far earlier than most children. I won't likely go into detail about his childhood at any great length in character, as he keeps things close to his vest in most matters that don't involve his history with Hosea and the rest.
Also as a child, I believe he had formal schooling, albeit not the most all-encompassing. He can read, write, do math, and knows about history and literature rather well. However, I believe he is of average intelligence, regardless of his pomp and put-on mask of intellect. He has a quick mind, however, or at least had one, which I'll get into later. His knowledge mostly consists of street smarts, though he can talk a good talk. I believe he hides his self-consciousness under the mask of intellect and false decisiveness, and in so doing, he can keep his ego inflated.
Dutch is a very shallow man, under all that false intellect and the mask of a worldly, cultured gentleman. This can be seen by his quoting one book frequently, his moving from one lover to another - according to others, due to them aging out of his tastes in looks - and his demeanor of saying he has a plan, when he's really just flying by the seat of his pants, like everyone else. He uses his status of leadership to garner the admiration, loyalty and attention to which he feels he's entitled, and when he feels a lack of it, it throws him into a spiral of feeling like he has no control over the situation. He's obsessed with being in control. It may stem from his younger life in which he had no control over what was going on around him, and he was made to feel powerless and neglected.
His motivation isn't necessarily greed per se. I believe he IS in search of pure freedom to do as he pleases. He's the true anarchist, inasmuch as he's a believer in the right to self-govern in a very myopic scale. If one person can keep their shit together while they do whatever they want, they're doing what all humans have a right to do. He doesn't like the interference of law, government, society, and corporate business, and will rage against it, as he feels that structure in this nature hinders mankind. His ultimate cornerstone is that every man is an island. His motivation to live freely hinges upon the knowledge that to get what he wants, he has to play into society's rules, which vexes him.
Vanity is another handicap under which Dutch operates. While he doesn't ascribe to the concept of civilized society, he dresses appropriately for one who is of upperclass means, and plays that part. He's obsessed with his self image, and how others perceive him. How he reacts to others is dependent upon how they treat him - or at least what face he shows to them - and how much they can offer him. If they show anything other than awe, kindness, loyalty or admiration, he overthinks those little slights and then explodes over those slights later. He lets those seeming insults to him pile up until he's festering in those thoughts, and he takes it out on the first thing that gives him the impetus to release.
In all fairness, none of this means he's not easily swayed by outside forces. In fact, the way to gain his unwavering attention is to ply him with platitudes. He's swayed by those who suck up to him. Toadyism is his kryptonite, in a way very little else is. You can see this in action with Micah. Micah knows how to keep Dutch's attention by treating him like a king, and boasting over his hard work for the sake of the camp. Dutch takes notice of how Micah treats him, and listens to him more than others, because he likes feeling more important.
Coming back around to his quick mind, I believe that at some point in his recent past, his already bent mind was bent further. Whether it be the loss of his paramour Annabelle, or a brain injury, or some other stressor, he's lost his ability to think clearly, and is quicker to sacrifice his ideals of helping others and saving the innocents, to get what he came for. He's more scattered in the mind than he had been prior to Blackwater, and while the others in the camp say they've been through worse, Dutch seems to act like this is the worst hardship he's encountered. "You'll work it out, Dutch, you always do." But you see him struggling to work anything out. With the outside interference of Micah and conflicting opinions, the stress of having to move farther away from their goals for survival, the loss of members of his gang, and the mess of losing an important lump sum of money which meant the loss of being close to his dreams of freedom stressed him into becoming scattered. He is mostly enraged at himself, though he takes it out on the rest of the gang for not doing enough to get them back on their feet.
I truly believe at one point, Dutch DID want to be the Robin Hood type character in his own story; giving to the needy and taking from the rich and powerful. He believes in equality for all, even through his hardships, but he's losing sight of his ideals and desires, which are taking a back seat to running from the things that he wishes to fight against. He's starting to realize that this is a war he cannot win. The age of freedom as he knows it is taking a back burner to the westward expansion, encroaching civilization, law, and order.
I also want to make a point of his manipulative behavior. He's not necessarily physically abusive, but he has a quick temper. He absolutely has the capability to be emotionally manipulative, and frequently shows it by way of how he twists people into doing what he wants. He's no star champ at this like Micah is, but he knows how to make people see things his way by way of persuasion. He rewards loyal behavior, and punishes disloyalty with deadly force if necessary. He's a manipulator indeed, but can also be easily manipulated, himself.
All in all, from a layperson standpoint, I feel that Dutch exhibits symptoms of cluster-B personality disorders, primarily those of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. With a struggling childhood, shows of self-importance, grandiose behavior, a need for excessive admiration, and a vulnerable self-esteem which can make him lash out when it's so much as rattled, I feel fairly confident that he suffers from this mental illness.