Living in a Borstal

‘But if I sliced Wilcox’s tendons, I’d get sent to Borstal.’

‘Well wakey fucking wakey, sunbeam! Life’s a Borstal!’ (p. 217).

A borstal used to be a type of youth detention center in the United kingdom and there was a similar thing in India called a borstal school. The borstals and borstal schools were intended to reform young people deemed by the court to be seriously delinquent. After borstals were banned in 1982, there was a new set of schooling for the delinquent called youth custody centers instead.

Being sent to borstal would be a awful experience, easily compared to be living a hellish way of life. After telling Jason to slice Wilcox’s tendons, Jason remarks that if he did that, he would get sent to Borstal, clearly somewhere he does not want to go. Norman Bates responded unexpectedly to Jason, telling him that maybe in comparison, life is all sunny and happy. But in reality, life is just a large borstal. People walking around under the constant supervision of someone else. Listening to the orders and directions of someone else. Attempting to retain individuality without upsetting the higher power. 

Making life its own prison.