In chapter five, Jon Ronson uses his newfound knowledge of detecting psychopaths by means of a specific psychopath checklist to practice his skills on a past interviewee and inmate at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility: Emmanuel “Toto” Constant. Constant used to be the leader of FRAPH, an organization that terrorized and killed supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Fleeing Haiti for the US, Constant was eventually arrested by the authorities; however, he was set free and was sentenced to remaining in Queens, NY. Ronson recalls his first interview with Constant, implying that he was a psychopath because he showed false emotion when trying to cry and was convinced that he would return as the leader of Haiti. Ronson did not yet know about the psychopath test, so he did not think much of it at that time. Upon their second interview, Constant revealed that he wants people to like him so that he can manipulate them; he chooses the emotions he wants to have; and he hates weakness, signs of a psychopath.
This chapter was interesting to me because of Jon Ronson’s fascination and use of his new “powers”. I thought it was somewhat comical that he associated detecting a psychopath with powers. If an unknowledgeable person had the checklist in front of them, they would probably be able to label Toto a psychopath as well. I was shocked that the US set free a leader of a mass murder organization on the basis of possibly revealing foreign policy. That sounds like blackmail to me. Nonetheless, chapters four and five were beneficial in helping understand how a true psychopath acts and their enjoyment of manipulation. It scares me to think that there are psychopaths running around in society, possibly in the government or Wall Street, with so much power.
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