Date of Award

Spring 2020

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Historical & Political Studies; College of Arts & Sciences

First Advisor

Geoffery Haywood

Abstract

Charles Manson was one of the most horrifying, yet alluring figures to emerge in recent history, in part due to his crimes and their nature, and his strange behavior displayed during his famous trials in the early 1970s. Born in a small town in 1934 Charlie took to criminality from a young age, being institutionalized for over half his life before he was finally released in 1967 during the heyday of the summer of love in San Francisco. Once back on his feet, he began a quest for musical superstardom, gathering a harem of unstable, broken and misused runaway teens skulking around the hippie capital, soon having about three dozen young men and women under his spell. During his time escapading around Hollywood, Manson crossed paths with many renowned musicians and celebrities, including Dennis Wilson, Neil Young and Terry Melcher, who he hoped to secure a record deal from and become bigger than the Beatles. However, when the rejection came, Manson turned to rage and paranoia, conjuring up images of a race war, the destruction of civilization and the imminent rise of Helter Skelter, a combination of both the latter ideas. In reality, this was most likely just a scheme from the unstable, but criminally clever Charlie to get members of his family to enact revenge against the society that had discarded Manson, made second class to the establishment. No one will truly know if Manson truly believed in Helter Skelter and the apocalypse, or just implemented the idea into the minds of his followers to be ready to carry out sporadic violence on a moment’s notice. This paper is not trying to definitively answer that impossible question, rather it is simply addressing Manson as he was, how he lived, what he believed and ultimately, what he did that made him one of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century.

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Murder,Mayhem,Manson

Charles Manson was one of the most horrifying, yet alluring figures to emerge in recent history, in part due to his crimes and their nature, and his strange behavior displayed during his famous trials in the early 1970s. Born in a small town in 1934 Charlie took to criminality from a young age, being institutionalized for over half his life before he was finally released in 1967 during the heyday of the summer of love in San Francisco. Once back on his feet, he began a quest for musical superstardom, gathering a harem of unstable, broken and misused runaway teens skulking around the hippie capital, soon having about three dozen young men and women under his spell. During his time escapading around Hollywood, Manson crossed paths with many renowned musicians and celebrities, including Dennis Wilson, Neil Young and Terry Melcher, who he hoped to secure a record deal from and become bigger than the Beatles. However, when the rejection came, Manson turned to rage and paranoia, conjuring up images of a race war, the destruction of civilization and the imminent rise of Helter Skelter, a combination of both the latter ideas. In reality, this was most likely just a scheme from the unstable, but criminally clever Charlie to get members of his family to enact revenge against the society that had discarded Manson, made second class to the establishment. No one will truly know if Manson truly believed in Helter Skelter and the apocalypse, or just implemented the idea into the minds of his followers to be ready to carry out sporadic violence on a moment’s notice. This paper is not trying to definitively answer that impossible question, rather it is simply addressing Manson as he was, how he lived, what he believed and ultimately, what he did that made him one of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century.