Can Tony Soprano Change?

Advertisement Advertisement Copy Link Share Share Comment Copy Link Share Share Comment

Dear Joel, Peggy, and Glen,

As you noted, Joel, a nagging question hovering over this series is what hope is there for a patient like Tony. Since Dr. Melfi uses the DSM IV, I suppose so should we, and clearly Tony falls within the diagnostic category of an antisocial personality disorder with a pervasive pattern since age 15 of unlawful behavior, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability, and aggression as well as intermittent disregard for safety, responsibility, or remorse. Granting all of this, Tony ain’t much of a Boy Scout. However, the reasons psychoanalysts have historically hated diagnoses is that as categories, they give us little more than labels which stultify the doctor’s imagination as well as the possibilities of change for his patient. Can Tony Soprano change? You bet, and there has been quite a lot of evidence of that over the past three years that even Tony defended to Carmela in their couples therapy session. Will he change into an Eagle Scout? VERY unlikely. Change is relative. Early in my career when I worked with hospitized delinquent adolescents, we learned that the first major change–and this was VERY significant–was they they stopped getting worse. Second was that they began to internalize by increments an identification with a group of others dedicated to conscientiously helping them. This identification became the basis upon which all of the criteria I mentioned above on the antisocial personality disorder would mitigate. By this criteria of change, how is Tony doing?

Here are just a few examples. In the first season, he calls off a hit on the high-school soccer couch who was sexually abusing Meadow’s girlfriend and allows the police to handle the matter instead. In the second season, he tries repeatedly to dissuade a compulsive gambler from entering his Executives’ Poker game, but when he is hoodwinked into letting him in, he holds him ruthlessly responsible for his gambling debt. Still he tried to dissuade, hardly predatory behavior–in fact the pathological gambler was initially more predatory than Tony. Finally, this season, when he could easily have Noah eliminated as Meadow’s suitor, he never even broaches the thought and tries mightily not to impulsively explode at Meadow despite his lamentable racist aversion to her short-term boy friend. And now the pièce de résistance is that more and more we see him becoming paradoxically anti-antisocial. That is, although the rules of HIS subculture dictate that he should never strike a fellow “made man” (Ralphie) for having in fact been perfectly within his rights to eliminate a whore who first struck him, Tony nevertheless only sees in Tracee’s image that of Meadow. His outrage over her death impels him to strike down Ralphie. That he must ultimately appoint him a captain in the wake of Gigi’s death is only because he has no real alternatives in dardee, dough, and dum, the three other clowns besides Ralphie in Gigi’s surviving crew. But Tony does not make this a pleasant ceremony, refusing in the end to celebrate the appointment with a drink. In his anti-antisocial behavior, we see elements of change. Dr. Krakower’s one-shot treatment expecting either personality transformations or rejects only mirrors society’s hyper-idealized notion of cure. In truth, by increments we see ever-burgeoning humanity in Tony, though don’t count on his getting his Eagle badge any time this lifetime.

Phil

Copy Link Share Share Comment

• The Sopranos: Week 8, Season 3

Advertisement Advertisement We need to talk about your adblocker

Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. If you value our work, please disable your ad blocker. If you want to block ads but still support Slate, consider subscribing.

Enable Ads on Slate Subscribe

Already a member? Sign in here

This article is only for Slate Plus members.

Join today to keep reading. You'll also get access to all of Slate's independent journalism, unparalleled advice, and daily games. Cancel anytime.

Join Slate Plus

Already a member? Sign in here