Manson Family Manipulation Essay

Introduction

The name of the Manson Family, which was a commune established in California by the end of the 1960s, is associated with horror and death. The commune was led by Charles Manson, who attained a nationwide fame personality after the murder of actress Sharon Tate and four other victims in 1969 by the members of the Manson Family. They acted on the basis of the detailed instructions which they had received from Charles Manson. Later it became known that these group members were also responsible for a number of other assaults and murders. This paper considers all the terrible consequences of the cooperation of the members from the Manson Family and the personality of their leader Charles Manson, who managed to develop a strong impact upon other members of his Family via convincing them that he was Jesus the Messiah. He thus, was a powerful man, one who had the capability of manipulating others to follow his every word. Having interpreted the song by the Beatles “Helter-Skelter” in his own way, Manson worked out the plan of its organization, connecting it to racial disparities and religious basis.

Childhood of Charles Manson

Charles Manson was born in 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother was 16 at that moment of time and she was a prostitute and alcoholic.[1] She then married William Manson. The marriage did not last long and the boy was finally sent to boy school.[2] Manson’s mother did not care much about her son, and soon he started to live on the streets and was involved into various minor crimes: “By 1952, Manson was soon spending more time in prison. In total he spent more than half his life, 17 years, incarcerated. He was noted for being a `model prisoner”[3] Three years passed and he married a young girl, who was 17 and was ready to move with him to California. She became pregnant. Manson continued to earn money via participating in criminal activities and this time he was involved in stealing cars.[4] Soon he was again sent to jail.[5] In 1956 his wife took their child and left. Manson had one more child from a different girl while he was on probation.[6] He was unstable and volatile: “Charles was described by probation reports as suffering from a ‘marked degree of rejection, instability and psychic trauma’ and ‘constantly striving for status and securing some kind of love’. Other descriptions included ‘dangerous’ ‘unpredictable’ and ‘safe only under supervision.”[7] It was this very childhood that would mark the foundation for Manson’s need to maintain control in his life by controlling others.

Religious Aspects and Hippie Subculture

 Manson developed a myth about his personality in San Francisco’s Haight –Ashbury district as a real guru.[8] In the 1960s, this district was known to be the hippie locale. Charles Manson is considered to have had impact upon this subculture.[9] He produced a unique combination of the concept of religious messiah with hippie cultural aspects, namely their fondness for peace and love. In essence, he used peace, love, and mind-altering drugs as a shroud and tool to spread his own warped revolutionary message and influence his “family” of followers to murder at his behest. It was no wonder that soon he was supported by a group of troubled hippies, who left their homes, were vagrants or castoffs.[10] This was a perfect company to travel through California, hunt for food, and prostitute females for money.[11] Manson took the ideas from The Process Church of The Final Judgment, the members of which stated that Satan would become reconciled to Christ and that these two would be together to judge the humans. The major beliefs of this Church were described as neo-Gnostic theology. They supported the existence of four gods, which existed inside each human personality. Thus these deities were not worshiped and they were considered to be the Great Gods of the Universe.[12] Manson chose exactly this locale, as he realized that this group of people was easy to convince. They were less intelligent and less capable of critical thinking, thus deprived of skepticism. This was the ideal group for him to create his own world and make these people follow him and perceive his narrations.

When in 1961 Manson was sent to the U.S. penitentiary in McNeil Island, Washington he wrote Scientologist as his religion.[13] Manson developed the idea that his followers were the reincarnation of the original Christians and he made his followers believe into this as well. This was crucial in manipulating others to believe he was one to be listed to and always followed. Most of the group members had their nicknames, for example “Mother Mary”, “Mary Manson”, “Och”, “Marioche”, etc.[14] He considered himself to be Christ, thus he told a story about the cross and the nails in his hands and feet as his own memories. “Before the summer ended, Manson and eight or nine of his enthusiasts piled into an old school bus they had re-wrought in hippie style, with colored rugs and pillows in place of the many seats they had removed. They roamed as far north as Washington state, then southward through Los Angeles, Mexico, and the southwest. Returning to the Los Angeles area, they lived in Topanga Canyon, Malibu, and Venice — western parts of the city and county.”[15] Through this, the Manson Family was able to gain a greater following and thus, Manson himself broadened his manipulative reach. Remnants of what Manson came to represent, the excesses of the hippie revolution that railed against the Vietnam war, racism, and consumerism, are still in existence today in these areas as a result.

Manson’s Personality

Surprisingly, not all recollections of Manson’s personality are negative. For example Actor Al Lewis, for whom Manson had babysat children several times, explained that Manson had been actually a nice guy.[16]  Phil Kaufman, an American record producer, helped Manson to be introduced to young Universal Studios producer Gary Stromberg.[17]  This producer was then working over the adaptation of the life of Jesus, the setting of which was in modern America and his Jesus was black.[18] Stromberg communicated with Manson and found his remarks about the way how Jesus could be in various situations to be of great use for this role.[19]  Later Stromberg assumed that Manson was able to reach the weak sides of any individual in order to manipulate them. Manson was known to influence influential individuals by granting them access to “Family” women as part of his manipulation. Manson once claimed to be sexually pathetic and convinced one of these individuals that his “outsized endowment was all that kept the “Family” females at Spahn ranch.”[20]  Manson was concerned not only about religious issues, but also about damage to the environment and pollution. He once commented: “Your water’s dying. Your life’s in that cup. Your trees are dying. Your wildlife’s locked up in zoos. You’re in the zoo, Man. How do you feel about it?”[21]

In 1967 Manson gathered a group of his followers; these people were fond of drugs and free lifestyles. This group was called “The Family.” Soon the size of his group reached one hundred, including very young girls, who were ready to do everything, Manson would ask for.[22]  They were gradually convinced that he is not a usual human being, but instead Jesus on the Earth. The most loyal members of the Manson family were used by Manson as the killers of famous people.[23] He made them kill, because he told them to do it whereas in reality Manson did not participate directly in those killings and it was not possible to find the evidence that he was engaged.[24]The Manson Family members were motivated to kill, because they were used to follow the ideas and orders of their mentor. He initially had chosen such individual, whom he could easily influence, as it was already mentioned before. He provided only the detailed directions for his followers how and what to do, and then instructed them to kill, because he associated himself with the Jesus, who could help his followers choose the correct life path.

An important period for the Manson Family was the time spent with Dennis Wilson. “Before the Manson Family’s murderous spree, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys had allowed Manson and several members of his Family to stay at his home”[25] During this time period Manson had recorded a song, which was later released by the Beach Boys as their own song.[26]  This house thus turned into a strong symbol of Manson’s inability to belong to the world of music.[27]  Because of Manson’s lack of control in his own life and his dreams of being in the music industry, his psychological problems with self-identification were heightened and thus he thought later that everybody at that house was to be killed.[28]  

The fact that his mother was an alcoholic could not pass without a trace in his life. Even taking into consideration the fact that she did not spend much time with her son, yet still she was one of the reasons, why Manson turned into the one, he was.[29] Those parents, who are not able to take care of themselves due to problems with drugs or alcohol, usually are also not able to take care of their children either. It is always assumed that alcoholism is a family disease, because it has impact not only upon the alcoholic, but also upon the entire family. “Studies have shown that children who have alcoholic parents grow up to have deep-seated emotional problems, which can manifest through destructive behavior. Having an alcoholic parent can be likened to being on a continual rollercoaster, making children feel insecure, vulnerable, anxious, and sometimes as though it is their fault. As adults, children of alcoholics can find it hard to be successful or to develop close personal relationships.”[30] Due to the fact that Manson was not able to develop normal relationship with other people around him, he preferred to choose the role of the messiah for him and prove that he is the chosen one to lead them.

Life of the Manson Family

These events, which were later very important for the consequent murders, started at the beginning of 1968. Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys picked up two girls from the Manson family, who were hitchhiking.[31] These girls were Ella Jo Bailey and Patricia Krenwinkel. He took the girls to Pacific Palisades house. When Wilson returned from his night recording next morning, he met Manson by his own residence; he came out of the house.[32]  Wilson was utterly surprised to see him and asked whether the stranger had any vicious intentions.[33]  Manson assured that he did not have such intentions and kissed his feet.[34]  When Wilson entered his house, he found 12 people there, mostly these were females. The situation became shocking, when “over the next few months, as their number doubled, the Family members who made themselves part of Wilson’s Sunset Boulevard household cost him approximately $100,000.

Separate attention should be paid to the place, where the Manson Family lived. Manson created a kind of base for his group at Spahn’s Movie Ranch, which was situated near Topanga Canyon Boulevard in 1968 and the whole Family relocated to the ranch.[35] Initially, this ranch was organized for making television shows and movie sets for Western production.[36] In the 1960s the buildings were already in a bad state and the ranch could earn money only via selling horseback rides.[37] The members of the Manson family did a lot of work for the owner of the ranch and in addition Manson gave the order to the women from his Family to have sex with the 80-year-old owner George Spahn, who was almost blind by that time. Again, these women subserviently followed and even helped him with his every day activities, substituting his eyes. This was the reason, why Spahn allowed Manson and his Family live there without paying anything. Soon Charles Watson also arrived to the Spahn’s ranch. He left college and moved to California, he met Manson in the house of Dennis Wilson.

Interpretation of Helter-Skelter by Charles Manson

Manson seemed to be interested in racial tensions between black and white people and he maintained that the pressure from the side of the whites was growing, causing the blacks start up a rebellion in American cities. He devoted attention to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. During one of the meetings of the Manson Family members on the New Year’s Eve at Myers Ranch around the large fire Manson spoke about the social turmoil and its meaning for the society, referring to the songs of the Beatles, as he stated that they had predicted this in their songs: “The White Album songs, he declared, told it all, although in code. In fact, he maintained (or would soon maintain), the album was directed at the Family, an elect group that was being instructed to preserve the worthy from the impending disaster.”[38]

It was getting so cold in January 1969 that the Family had to escape from the cold of the desert and move to a yellow home in Canoga Park near the Spahn ranch. [39] This location seemed to be unique, as it was somehow separated from the rest of the world and Manson gave it the name the Yellow Submarine, which is again a direct reference to the famous Beatles songs.[40] This house became the place, where the members of the Family started their preparation for the impending apocalypse, which was later called by Manson Helter Skelter – after the song with this name.[41] Manson found his own message in the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter” and related it to the Bible, when he was later planning his war against race.

A month later Manson formulated his vision that the Family should create an album with such profound and important songs as those of the Beatles, which would awake the consciousness of people and lead to chaos. People would be ready to pay back for the terrible murders of the blacks by white people and soon the situation would lead to self-annihilation of the whites. The aim of Manson was to start a race, which would make white people realize how dangerous black people were. He managed to convince his followers that blacks were planning to start their violent uprising. He assumed that those protests, which followed the death of Martin Luther King, were the first protests in the black movement and there was only one way for whites to sustain their power – to take control through a race war. Then the black people would triumph and would be able to lead different lives being rules by the members of the Manson Family. In order to perform this plan it was necessary for all members of the Family to hide in the bottomless pit, which was a secret city near the Death Valley in order to survive. The plan was certainly supported by all members of the group and they liked to believe that they were the chosen ones, who would survive in Armageddon and that they had to perform such an important mission in this world. They started to work over maps to prepare their great escape and also on songs, which were supposed to change the world and human perceptions. They expected the Terry Melcher, the producer, would come to them to hear their materials and they prepared the house for this event, but Melcher had never turned up. It was important but next to impossible to trace in detail all the motives for the consequent murders, done by the group.

At the beginning of the summer of 1969 Manson started to discuss with his Family members the need to show the blacks how to launch their Helter Skelter. Manson wanted Watson to get the money for this preparation, and Watson got it defrauding a black drug dealer Bernard Crowe. Crowe promised to wipe out everybody for the Spahn Ranch in response. Manson shot him in his Hollywood apartment. “Manson’s belief that he had killed Crowe was seemingly confirmed by a news report of the discovery of the dumped body of a Black Panther in Los Angeles. Although Crowe was not a member of the Black Panthers, Manson concluded he had been and expected retaliation from the Panthers. He turned Spahn Ranch into a defensive camp, with night patrols of armed guards.”[42] Watson interpreted this situation as another sign that Helter Skelter was going to start soon, as one of the black people was chasing the chosen ones.

The Murders as the Launching Point for Helter-Skelter

In July 1969 Manson gave the order to his Family members Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins to go to the house of Gary Hinman, who was one of the victims of the Manson Family, and make him give the money, which he was supposed to have inherited.[43] The conflict between then was unclear. According to one of the versions, Manson thought that he had a lot of money and according to another version, Manson wanted to convince him to join his Family, but he refused.  During the period of two days these three family members were forcing Hinman towards cooperation, but unsuccessfully. Then Manson arrived himself and slashed Hinman’s ear with his sword. Beausoleil stabbed Hinman to death according to the order from Manson. Then someone of the group used the blood of Hinman to write on the wall the phrase “Political piggy” and to draw a panther paw, which was the symbol of a Black Panther. They did this to create a political turbulence, to frame the murder on the Black Panthers in their own self-defense. This was all part of Manson’s sociopathic plan; he loved the idea of becoming famous and since he could not do so in the music industry he created his own path. He did his homework and created a brand of sorts with these tactics in order to manipulate his following.

Later, in his interview, Beausoleil would explain that the reason, why he went to the house of Hinman, was the fact that he wanted to return the money, given to Hinman for drugs. Atkins and Brunner went just to visit Hinman and were not aware of his real intentions. This version was confronted by the version from the Atkin’s autobiography from 1977, where she wrote that the three of them received a direct order from Manson to go to the house of Hinman and get his inherited $21.000. Before Manson told her that if she wanted to do something important, then she could kill Hinman and get the money. In August 1969 Beausoleil was arrested, driving the Hinman’s car. Police could find the weapon in the tire well. In two days Manson informed the rests of his Family members that the time of Helter Skelter had come.

One night at the beginning of August 1969 Manson told Watson together with Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to go to the former house of Melcher and kill everybody there. The three females were to adhere to the orders of Watson. They found six persons in that house and killed them all, including “actress Sharon Tate (who was eight months pregnant), who was living there at the time; Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski, who were visiting her; and Steven Parent, who had been visiting the caretaker of the home. Atkins wrote “pig” in blood on the front door as they left. The murders created a nationwide sensation.”[44]

The next night was also bloody, as six members from the Manson family together with Manson himself, who was going to show them how they should kill, drove to 3301 Wavery Drive. There lived a supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. It was situated in Los Feliz part of Los Angeles, next to the house, where the Manson family had attended a party a year before. Manson went to the house and then returned, informing his Family members that he had tied them up. They roused the sleeping Leno LaBianca from the couch, then they brought Rosemary and Watson put pillowcases in their heads. They were bound with the lamp cords. Then Manson sent Leslie Van Houten and Krenwinkel to kill them. It is important is to note that Manson gave the order to Watson to make each of the females participate directly in the process. That’s why later it would be informed that Rosemary was stabbed 41 times already after her death. Manson wanted each of the members of his Family to prove that they adhere to his orders and are ready to kill for him.

Aftermath

The Tate murders had certainly become the national news in 1969. The LaBianca crime scene was discovered on the 10th of August in the morning, which was around 19 hours after the murders were committed. Initially the two investigation teams were working separately for these two cases. When they started to look for the similar cases, they found information of the Hinman case. One by one the members of the Manson Family were arrested.

In the aftermath of all these terrible events, it is important to mention that Manson did not want to take the responsibility for his actions. With the aim to escape prosecution, Manson wanted to plead insanity at his trial.[45] His defense stated that this insanity could be explained by the years of abuse he had suffered from his mother and other relatives.[46] The defense presented a long story about his mother’s abuse and neglect. It is not clear, whether Manson really lacked family care and love and this served the major driving force for his further life choices, but it is clear absolutely that his best satisfaction was in gaining control over other individuals, in dominating over them. His first challenge was to seize this control and the next step was to try to use this control and make them kill for him. For Manson it was not only killing itself, his major aim was to make others kill on the basis of his orders. During the murder trials Charles Manson shaved his head. He explained the need to do so: “I am the devil, and the devil has always had a bald head.” [47] Later he carved an “x” in his forehead and the next day the other members of his cult showed up at court with their X’s. Then Manson decided to change “x” into a swastika.[48]  Most probably he called himself the devil due to the fact that he felt that he could manipulate other people and seize control over their souls and choices. His change of “x” into swastika Manson explained in the following way: “The mark on my head simulates the dead head black stamp of rejection, anti-church, falling cross, devil sign, death, terror, fear.”[49]

Conclusion

Overall, the story of the Manson Family has definitely shocked the world; a whole army of researchers, psychologists and scientists would be needed in order to draw conclusions about the reasons of these people’s behaviors and choices, about the personality of Manson himself. Charles Manson imagined himself to be both Jesus and Devil on the basis of his own interpretation of the Bible that Jesus and David are to take the decisions about humans. Using his unique ability to choose the “correct” people, who could be easily influenced and convinced, as well as manipulation tactics from the Church of Scientology and other sources, Manson created a kind of cult for himself, calling it the Manson Family. This would ultimately fulfill Manson’s goal of being famous.

Bibliography

Bugliosi, Vincent; Gentry, Curt. Helter Skelter. Arrow Books Limited. 1974

Baer, Rosemary. Reflections on the Manson Trial: Journal of a Pseudo-Juror. Word Press. 1972.

Bishop, George. Witness to Evil. Nash Publishing. 1971.

Emmons, Nuel. Manson in His Own Words. Grove Press, New York.1988.

Jailhouse Interview: Bobby Beausoleil by Ann Louise Bardach. 2016.

Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002.

“Sharon Tate murder 10 years ago”. UPI. The Hour.1979.

The Influence of the Beatles on Charles Manson. UMKC Law. 2006.

Watkins, Paul with Soledad, Guillermo. My Life with Charles Manson, Bantam. 1979.


[1] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p. 5

[2] Ibid. p.6

[3] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p.6

[4] Ibid. 6

[5] Ibid. p. 6

[6] Ibid. p.6

[7] Ibid. p.8

[8] Ibid. p.10

[9] Ibid. p. 10

[10] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p. 10

[11] Ibid. p. 10

[12] Ibid. p. 12

[13] Ibid. p. 10

[14] Ibid. p. 10

[15] Ibid. p. 20

[16] Bugliosi, Vincent; Gentry, Curt. Helter Skelter. Arrow Books Limited. 1974, p. 132

[17] Ibid. p. 133

[18] Ibid. p. 133

[19] Ibid. p. 133

[20] Ibid. p. 133

[21] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p. 20

[22] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p. 20

[23] Ibid. p.20

[24] Ibid. p. 20

[25] Ibid. p. 20

[26] Ibid. p. 21

[27] Ibid. p.21

[28] Ibid. p. 22

[29] Ibid. p. 25

[30] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p. 30

[31] Ibid. p. 31

[32] Ibid. p. 31

[33] Ibid. p. 31

[34] Ibid. p. 31

[35] Ibid. p. 31

[36] Sanders, E. The Family. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2002, p. 31

[37] Ibid. p. 32

[38] The Influence of the Beatles on Charles Manson. UMKC Law. 2006, p. 1

[39] Ibid. p. 1

[40] Ibid. p. 1

[41] Ibid. p. 2

[42] Watkins, Paul with Soledad, Guillermo. My Life with Charles Manson, Bantam. 1979, p. 111

[43] Watkins, Paul with Soledad, Guillermo. My Life with Charles Manson, Bantam. 1979, p. 111

[44] “Sharon Tate murder 10 years ago”. UPI. The Hour.1979, p. 3

[45] Baer, Rosemary. Reflections on the Manson Trial: Journal of a Pseudo-Juror. Word Press. 1972, p. 148

[46] Ibid. p.148

[47] Ibid. p. 148

[48] Ibid. p. 148

[49] Baer, Rosemary. Reflections on the Manson Trial: Journal of a Pseudo-Juror. Word Press. 1972, p. 149

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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