Norman Mailer's Stabbing of Adele Morales

Background

Norman Mailer would often abuse many types of drugs and alcohol. Mailer also had a short temper and would happily engage in Head-butting, arm-wrestling, and random punch throwing. For much of the 50's he drifted, frequently drunk or stoned or both. * Mcgrath, Charles (2007). "Norman Mailer, Towering Writer with Matching Ego, Dies at 84". The Mailers had been married six years. Norman was waiting on a hearing of a charge of disorderly conduct. He had gotten into a hassle over a tab of $7.60 a week before at Birdland. Adele told the arresting detectives the night of November 20 that he had been displaying "homicidal tendencies". Their family had been attempting to get him to see a psychiatrist.

The Incident

They hosted a party on November 19, 1960. In the early hours the next morning, people at the party got incredibly drunk, and quarrels broke out. Mailer and his sister got into a fight about her campaign that he did not agree with. He started hitting her, then the Mailer couple themselves got into an argument when Adele tried to defend her. Some say that Adele taunted his literary talents during their tiff. He stabbed her by the heart in her upper abdomen, and in the back, both by a penknife. She was not taken to the hospital until three hours after he hurt her. When she arrived, she told the hospital, though they were skeptical, that she had fallen on a broken bottle. She told police the truth in the afternoon after her surgery.

The Aftermath

Mailer was arrested at the hospital around 10pm. Initially, Mailer plead “not guilty,” but later changed his plea to “guilty” in order to avoid harmful publicity for his family. After the stabbing, Mailer was committed to Bellevue hospital. "I was very upset, because me feeling was I committed a crime." His criminal lawyer had suggested him going into the hospital. "He was thinking like a criminal lawyer" Mailer spoke. They used the mental hospital as a way to save him if his wife did end up dying from the injuries inflicted upon her. Mailer hated this, he felt he would go crazy if he'd be there any longer.

Critical Response

Susan Mailer, when interviewed, spoke briefly about her father. She said that in her memoir, she wrote the chapter "Silent Spaces" which was about the unavoidable angst that the traumatic event caused for their family. Susan studied in psychoanalysis for many years. When she wrote her memoir, it was her "second analysis." She admits she was afraid of him, but she also understood her fears of him. "He had stabbed his wife, my stepmother, Adele."

Personal Response

After being remanded to Bellevue, Mailer confessed to the judge: “I feel I did a lousy, dirty, cowardly thing.” In an interview, Mailer was asked if he drank a lot (he was drunk when he stabbed her). Mailer went to say the only time he ever drank heavily was when a marriage was breaking up. When asked why Mailer stabbed his second wife, Adele Morales, Mailer opts out of talking about it saying that he'd maybe write about it later. He was then asked if he hated women to which he responds that he doesn't hate them, however he did get irritated with them differently than he did with men.

Citations

Norman Mailer's second wife survived his stabbing attack

Bibliography

• Lennon, J. Michael (2013). Norman Mailer: A Double Life. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• McKinley, Maggie (2021). "Introduction". Norman Mailer in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. pp. 1–10.
• Moore, M.J. (February 21, 2020). "Blood in the Morning: The Turbulent Relationship of Norman Mailer and Adele Morales". Criminal Element. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
• Bufithis, H. Philip (1978). Norman Mailer. NewYork: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. pp. 1–147.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Daily News, New York (2015). "Norman Mailer stabs his wife Adele in 1960". news. New York.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cornwell, Rupert (2015). "Adele Mailer". article. UK.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)