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Post by MysticPrincess24601 on Aug 24, 2016 14:08:08 GMT
This theory is that William Murdoch is somewhere in the Autism Spectrum, most likely at high functioning; I truly realized this, after watching the episode Dead End Street. I have some evidence for this, mostly thanks to personal experience (though these examples aren't the same with everyone that has the disorder.)
1.Often time William misses social cues, and sometimes has trouble meeting people.
2.Is often obsessed with science and inventions, plenty of those in the autism spectrum would have one or more obsession (mine for example is the fictional world, and writing.)
3.Whenever he focuses on something, he's very determined; like how he's determined that someone is guilty unless proven otherwise.
4.Is often awkward in social situation, unless he's with someone he's familiar with.
5. In the episode Dead End Street, where William and Julia talk about Lydia, this dialogue set up some alarm bells (with one line in particular.)
With that last part, makes me think that William is speaking from personal experience; like he knows how it feels.
Again, this is just a theory, and I could be wrong; but it'd honestly be pretty cool if it was true.
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Post by lovemondays on Aug 24, 2016 14:45:33 GMT
Your points are well taken and the possibility of William being on the spectrum has been debated many times. There are quite a few teachers in this group and several with even more personal connections to autism so the debate has been lively. You're in good company. The threads on William Murdoch and Dead End Street are both interesting reading. Feel free to add a response to any post from anytime, even years ago. This is an endlessly interesting subject!
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Post by Hodge on Aug 24, 2016 22:14:14 GMT
With that last part, makes me think that William is speaking from personal experience; like he knows how it feels. William is indeed talking from personal experience in this case. What he means by this is he has to be happy with life the way it is since Julia became engaged to Darcy. He's come to terms with the situation and is coping with it as best he can. I have never subscribed to the autism theory. William's mother died when he was young, his father couldn't cope and so the two children were shipped off to an aunt (in the books the aunt was a spinster school teacher, if I remember rightly, and not too enthused about having two kids plonked in her lap). I don't think William had any love and warmth in his life after his mother died and being sent to Jesuit school made sure there was none in his teenage years. I think this lack of close and emotional contact affected the way he interacts with everyone. He's fine on a professional basis, it's just close relationships and social situations he's not sure about. In other words his emotional growth was stunted due to his childhood experiences. I'm not autistic but I totally understand William's behaviour. As for William's singlemindedness, it's totally a male thing. My husband is the same and a friend's husband actually talked about men's brains being a series of boxes which can only be opened one at a time. It's been discussed on here as a compartmentalized brain. |
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Post by MysticPrincess24601 on Aug 25, 2016 3:39:37 GMT
With that last part, makes me think that William is speaking from personal experience; like he knows how it feels. William is indeed talking from personal experience in this case. What he means by this is he has to be happy with life the way it is since Julia became engaged to Darcy. He's come to terms with the situation and is coping with it as best he can. I have never subscribed to the autism theory. William's mother died when he was young, his father couldn't cope and so the two children were shipped off to an aunt (in the books the aunt was a spinster school teacher, if I remember rightly, and not too enthused about having two kids plonked in her lap). I don't think William had any love and warmth in his life after his mother died and being sent to Jesuit school made sure there was none in his teenage years. I think this lack of close and emotional contact affected the way he interacts with everyone. He's fine on a professional basis, it's just close relationships and social situations he's not sure about. In other words his emotional growth was stunted due to his childhood experiences. I'm not autistic but I totally understand William's behaviour. As for William's singlemindedness, it's totally a male thing. My husband is the same and a friend's husband actually talked about men's brains being a series of boxes which can only be opened one at a time. It's been discussed on here as a compartmentalized brain. Again, it's just a theory I have; mostly thanks to personal experience (since I have Asperger's, which is on the spectrum.) But I can also see how the factors you mention, could have an impact on William in the long run. |
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Post by Fallenbelle on Aug 25, 2016 13:27:01 GMT
William is indeed talking from personal experience in this case. What he means by this is he has to be happy with life the way it is since Julia became engaged to Darcy. He's come to terms with the situation and is coping with it as best he can. I have never subscribed to the autism theory. William's mother died when he was young, his father couldn't cope and so the two children were shipped off to an aunt (in the books the aunt was a spinster school teacher, if I remember rightly, and not too enthused about having two kids plonked in her lap). I don't think William had any love and warmth in his life after his mother died and being sent to Jesuit school made sure there was none in his teenage years. I think this lack of close and emotional contact affected the way he interacts with everyone. He's fine on a professional basis, it's just close relationships and social situations he's not sure about. In other words his emotional growth was stunted due to his childhood experiences. I'm not autistic but I totally understand William's behaviour. As for William's singlemindedness, it's totally a male thing. My husband is the same and a friend's husband actually talked about men's brains being a series of boxes which can only be opened one at a time. It's been discussed on here as a compartmentalized brain. Again, it's just a theory I have; mostly thanks to personal experience (since I have Asperger's, which is on the spectrum.) But I can also see how the factors you mention, could have an impact on William in the long run. Definitely not just you, as others have said, we've discussed this before, and there are those who think he might be. Of course, we'll never know, but there's evidence to support it. Are you at all familiar with claims that various historical figures were also possibly on the spectrum? Thomas Jefferson is one that immediately comes to mind... |
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Post by urbanperegrine on Aug 29, 2016 0:47:26 GMT
I don't think you're alone in this. The TV Tropes page for the series suggests his character shows similarities to someone with Asperger Syndrome (which I think is also known as "high-functioning autism")--scroll down to "Ambiguous Disorder". There's also his liking for the anonymity of living at the hotel and avoiding "useless" (his word) conversations. That said, there may be several things involved, including his upbringing and some underlying brain pattern--the two aren't mutually exclusive. FWIW I too have some of those traits, though I've never been officially assessed for it. Perhaps that's why I identify so much with him--I was also keen on STNG's Data back in the day.  |
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Post by snacky on Sept 4, 2016 1:54:44 GMT
I don't think you're alone in this. The TV Tropes page for the series suggests his character shows similarities to someone with Asperger Syndrome (which I think is also known as "high-functioning autism")--scroll down to "Ambiguous Disorder". There's also his liking for the anonymity of living at the hotel and avoiding "useless" (his word) conversations. That said, there may be several things involved, including his upbringing and some underlying brain pattern--the two aren't mutually exclusive. FWIW I too have some of those traits, though I've never been officially assessed for it. Perhaps that's why I identify so much with him--I was also keen on STNG's Data back in the day. I seem to remember (but possibly imagining) the writers denied this theory, and it's really hard to sustain in the most recent seasons. If this was an early idea of his character, I wish they had stuck with it. This was an interesting aspect of his character to consider. Did you ever see that picture from Tumbler that combines William and Data? |
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Post by urbanperegrine on Sept 6, 2016 20:26:31 GMT
I don't think you're alone in this. The TV Tropes page for the series suggests his character shows similarities to someone with Asperger Syndrome (which I think is also known as "high-functioning autism")--scroll down to "Ambiguous Disorder". There's also his liking for the anonymity of living at the hotel and avoiding "useless" (his word) conversations. That said, there may be several things involved, including his upbringing and some underlying brain pattern--the two aren't mutually exclusive. FWIW I too have some of those traits, though I've never been officially assessed for it. Perhaps that's why I identify so much with him--I was also keen on STNG's Data back in the day. I seem to remember (but possibly imagining) the writers denied this theory, and it's really hard to sustain in the most recent seasons. If this was an early idea of his character, I wish they had stuck with it. This was an interesting aspect of his character to consider. Did you ever see that picture from Tumbler that combines William and Data? I haven't followed the writers' social media and such to know their views on the matter. I'm not sure I see the recent character development as undercutting the notion (Murdoch may be learning and applying better social skills even if what he thinks about socializing hasn't changed much), but then I'm ambivalent about Asperger's anyway (having the word "Syndrome" attached doesn't really help). In the words of an oldish British idiom, I like to think we're all part of life's rich pageant. And no, I haven't seen that image, though I find it quite intriguing. Where exactly is it? |
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Post by snacky on Sept 25, 2016 2:19:00 GMT
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Post by urbanperegrine on Sept 29, 2016 17:22:42 GMT
 Works for me! Thanks for pointing it out to me. I needed that just now.
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Works for me! Thanks for pointing it out to me. I needed that just now.