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Ariel Longoria
Sir Brower
English 3 AP/D
01 April 2016

Argument Essay
Imagine someone with a psychopathic personality standing right behind you. Just the
thought can give you chills that run down your spine. People seem to associate sociopaths with
well known psychopaths or killers. However , in this sense, they would not be completely wrong
since it does happen to be a derivative of sociopathy, only 20 percent of male and female prison
inmates are sociopaths(4). Nonetheless that is not always the case since,the silent majority of
sociopaths [live] freely and anonymously in society, doing everything normal people do such
as, holding jobs, getting married, having children, [and] fitting in(4-5). There is miniscule
difference, between sociopathy and psychopathy both, and although not yet scientifically proven,
are characteristics, one in every twenty-five people, are born with (4). Can you tell them apart
at first glance? No, sociopaths are forced to learn how to, behave with sensitivity to [people's]
feelings like most of you(18).
I believe that the non-fiction book, Confessions of a Sociopath, is a well developed
and erudite novel. Given that the author M.E. Thomas has lived the life of a sociopath first hand,
she provides knowledge on the life, experience and thought process as well as how they deal
with things normal people find emotionally difficult. Sociopathy is, for the lack of better
words, lack of empathy, a ruthless and calculating attitude towards social and interpersonal
relationships, and a relative immunity to experiencing negative emotions, since they blend so

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well into society, can you differentiate between them and empaths (1)? With the way this book is
written the reader has no choice, but to mentally examine their life choice and thought process.
We begin to question whether we would be considered sociopathic as well; it makes your brain
constantly weigh the differences of what is considered normalcy, and how other people see the
world. "Confessions of a Sociopath," truly lets you experience being in someone else's shoes;
through empathy and their own first hand experiences.
Many people could argue how this book has too much of one person's personal
experience and not enough input from a variety of other people who have the same
characterization. The novel was written so the ordinary person can look into the mind of a
specific sociopath, the author. The novel is a biography, not a group contribution. In the
beginning of the novel she told her readers about a blog she started, as an online community for
people who identify as sociopaths, as well as people who love and hate them, and it is
increasingly successful (19). Throughout the book she goes into detail about her experiences and
she gives the audience a comment from the blog from other sociopaths who have gone, or are
going through, similar experiences. The fact of the matter is, Ms. Thomas does provide a variety
of other comments, suggestions, and experiences from different characterized sociopaths that had
written her on her blog; she not only gave her wisdom on the matter, but adventures from other
people as well.

Works Cited

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Thomas, M. E. Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print.