Crane's rapport with viewers is established through her character flaws. Viewers can appreciate the guilt and fear she suffers in committing theft. These emotions, universal, present themselves through a wide range of experiences. Therefore, it is not necessary for viewers to be thieves themselves in order to relate to Crane.
Crane sees her boss, on her way out of town, and elicits viewer concern. In the absence of speech -- no words are exchanged between characters and Crane's thoughts are not "voiced" -- viewers are driven to infer the protagonist's state of mind. Crane's thoughts at this moment become the viewers' own. Viewers thus assume direct involvement in the diegesis of the film. Their affinity with Crane is extended through the biased narration. Marion's boss is presented, literally, from her point of view. The narration likewise adopt a mental subjectivity evident in the explicit glimpses given of Crane's thoughts:
Throughout the "driving scene," the camera remains focused intently on Crane. Viewers are given no chance to be distracted from their window into her mind. Eerie, cacophonous music accentuates the mood. In subsequent scenes, with the police and used-car salesman, viewer anxiety is heightened, via music, to match that of Crane.
Her meeting with Norman Bates -- chillingly depicted by Anthony Perkins -- generates a catharsis which is palpable to viewers. The motif of rain, ending abruptly, suggests that Crane has in some way been cleansed. Her assertion of her true identity -- Crane versus Samuels -- denotes heroic empowerment significant to a character change. It is clear to viewers that she intends to return the money and to begin her life anew. They share in her relief and optimism, through the psychological bond which has been established and fostered in prior scenes.
Crane's shower, like the rain, appears to be a motif for catharsis. It is, in fact, a purification; Crane is being purged to make way for Norman Bates. Her story may have reached a resolution, giving rise to a gradual narrative shift from her to Bates. Still, it is hardly the ending viewers expect. There is the implicit assumption that the protagonist will remain through the end of the film. For the narration to stray from this pattern defies the general viewers' conception of plot. Crane's protagonist, in particular, seems indispensable, given the extent to which viewers have come to identify with her story. Their understanding of Crane has been made singularly intimate. Other characters, with the possible exception of Bates, have been presented in only minimal detail.
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