The Manchurian Candidate

By Richard Condon

Mind Control in The Manchurian Candidate

            Mind control plays a large role in The Manchurian Candidate, beyond the explicit hypnosis of Robert Shaw. The relationships revolving around Robert’s mother are particularly controlled. Her relationship with her father definitely was formed from his control over her, especially since she learned to enjoy her abuse. Eleanor seems to be suffering from Stockholm syndrome, having suffered an especially twisted sort of abuse that twisted her perception of reality until she looked at her father as the pinnacle of man, a “shining and thrilling and valiant knight” so wonderful that she needs to dedicate her life claiming his legacy (Condon 83). In turn, she manipulates those in her life to aid her ambition. Every move she makes is carefully calculated, every action she takes is one step closer to her goal of power. Eleanor controlled her first husband, Robert’s father, in every step of their relationship up until he took a moral stand. She picked him out of four candidates to pursue, then made sure she was impregnated, then molded his career to coincide with her aging. This calculated construction of his life gave her control over not only his personal life, but also how he spent the majority of his time and where he would see himself in the future. However, when Robert’s father deviated from the plan “she had at last needed to cuckold him to be rid of him,” (75). Eleanor then took John Iselin under control. She offered him power and prestige as long as he followed her instructions exactly, and he did so with such eagerness that his response to her was often: “Just tell me what to do, hon, and I’ll get it done” (76). She also used his impotence to manipulate him in a variety of ways. If John ever questioned his devotion to her, she would say that he tricked her to guilt him into feeling indebted to her. To ensure that John remained sexually reliant on her, she provided women for him to use. Lastly, she could always go to, or threaten to go to, the press with the news of his impotence in case of emergency.