number 23, that is why his phobia to number 23 influences his reliance to someone who relates to number 23. For example, he doubts a professor’s
personality because that professor wears red tie—Sparrows assumes that red relates to number 23. And he also impeaches his wife could have affair with that
professor since her middle name is Pink, and pink also has relations with 23. His suspicions to his wife and that professor can be seen in 00:43:50 when sparrow
sees them talk in his wife’s store when the store is being closed. Even though they don’t have affair, Sparrow is worry because their relationship to number 23. This
scene shows how number 23 has significant influence toward Sparrow’s life. Those scenes that show sparrow’s phobia is a characterizations through
internal actions that filmmaker reveals Sparrow’s fears and suspicion toward number 23 visually. Most of those scenes are showed by tight close-ups on
numbers which Sparrows sees as number 23 relations, and also tight close-ups on Sparrow’s expressive face.
2. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
For his phobia toward number 23, Sparrow tries to figure everything out how they connected to number 23 by calculating of the number that is contained
in it. It is kind of obsessive compulsive disorder. Obsession is an intrusive thought, idea, or impulse that is happened repeatedly and makes individual cannot
control it, obsession could be strong and persistence so that disturbs individual’s life and creates a significant distress and anxiety. In the other hand, compulsion is
a repetitive act that individual feels need to do. Compulsion is appear as the effect
of obsessive thought and it could harm individual’s life and also create a significant distress and anxiety.
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The obsession of Sparrow in number 23 is showed by his thought that couldn’t stop to think about the relation of number 23 with everything he finds in
his life. He believes that number 23 is a cursed number and everything that related to it must have bad influence. And his action in counting everything’s number
substance is a compulsion. Here are some scenes that describe about his obsessive compulsive:
Agatha: “Walter, what are you doing?” Sparrow: “Check this out. Walter Sparrow doesnt work. But if I use my
middle name; Walter= 5-1-1-9-7. isnt that amazing?” Agatha: “What?”
Sparrow: “Its all 23. My birthday-- 23, drivers license, social security number. Everything. I was born at 11:12 p.m. 11 plus 12.”
The picture and dialogues above are captured on minute 31:07—here the film maker reveals Sparrow’s OCD by characterizations through his external
action and also through dialogue—Sparrow tries to calculate the number that contains in his name and he is shock knowing that the calculation result in his
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Jeffery S. Nevid and friends. Opcit.P. 172
name is 23. It is the first time He shows his obsession on number 23 and his obsessive-compulsive disorder becomes worse gradually so that he tries to
calculate anything that related to him such as his address, driving license number, etc. to ensure whether they are related to number 23 or not.
After calculating some things related to his personal life and find there are so many of them related to number 23, Sparrow thinks that the writer of the novel
must know about his past life that he cannot remember. Then he decided to find who the writer is. And in his searching process, he finds a fact that there was a
murdering case that happened around the time when the novel was made. In addition, he looks for information about that case and finds that the murderer
name is Kyle Flinch and he is jailed. He goes to the jail where the suspect is sentenced and asking about what number 23 means to Kyle. Sparrow is sure that
Kyle was the one who killed the girl and wrote the novel as his warped literary confession; however, Kyle said that he is jailed for a mistake he had never done
because he had never killed anyone and he also said that he is not the author of that novel. Sparrow is mad finding the fact that Kyle is not the writer of the novel
and he doesn’t believe it, he even says Kyle is lying. However, he believes what Kyle said after he calculates the number of that man’s name; Sparrow finds that
the calculation number of Kyle is not 23, and he sure that Kyle is not a killer. Sparrow’s judgment on Kyle can be seen in time-line 01:00:57
Sparrow: “He was real convincing about his innocence.” Agatha : “well, killers usually are. his fingerprints were on the knife. her
blood was on his hands when he dialed 911.” Sparrow: “no, hes innocent.”
Sparrow shows Kyle’s name calculation that he has count to Agatha
Agatha: “all because his name doesnt add up to 23?” 01:00:57 Sparrow believes in what Kyle has said just because of his obsessive
thought that consider as a cursed number is add up to Kyle’s name. Another scene that shows Sparrow’s OCD is can be seen in time-line
01:14:30 when he is still curious about who is the writer of the novel and the one who killed Laura Tollins.
Sparrow: “It was you. you moved the skeleton.” Agatha: “Please dont do this, walter.”
Sparrow: “Then how did you know, unless... your maiden name is pink.” ……………………
…………………… Sparrow: “You wrote it.” 01:14:20
His judgment toward everything always depends on number 23 calculation until he suspects his wife and says that his wife possibly be the writer since her
maiden name is pink which its numbers is add up to 23, according to Sparrow. Sparrow’s OCD toward number 23 looks clearer now, he finds number 23
in his wife by calculating her maiden name only and immediately suspects his wife as a murderer, in fact, he calculate his own full-name to finds number 23 in
his name after his first and last name don’t add up to number 23. Here we see how his compulsion in calculating number 23 is based on his Obsession thought about
it; so that he counts the numbers with inconsistence way of calculation whereas he sometimes adds the numbers, but in other times he subtracts them and sometimes
he multiplies or divides them so that he could find number 23; in other word he has no regular and exact way to calculate it.
3. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Sparrow
