GLENS: Global English Insights Journal
Vol. 3 No. 3 (2026): GLENS, August 2026

Reading Self-Directed Psychopathy: Mental Killing in Meg Cabot's Size 14 Is Not Fat Either

Riola Haya Nur (Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia)
Ardiansyah Ahmad (Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia)
Muthia Amalia Syahrir (Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
13 Aug 2026

Abstract

Societal beauty standards inflict significant psychological distress, conditioning individuals to perceive their appearance as a deficit requiring constant modification. This behavior triggers “mental killing,” a literary analytical framework conceptualized here to describe narrative processes of identity erosion, self-erasure, and internalized psychopathic conformity. While existing literature associates psychopathic characteristics with outward, sadistic predation,  this study investigates how these characteristics manifest intrapersonally through a psychological literary analysis of the novel Size 14 is Not Fat Either.  Textual data—comprising dialogues, interior monologues, and semiotic signs—were extracted via purposive sampling across ten targeted chapters and processed using thematic framework alongside Triarchic Model and characterization techniques. Through this textual evidence, Heather Wells can be read as showing internalized psychopathic traits, as follows:  disinhibition operates as impulsive self-estrangement­–driven by idealized body standards; meanness functions as an inward predatory logic treating self-worth as prey; and boldness acts as a stoic mask suppressing trauma for social functionality. This text-based analysis demonstrates that negative self-perception reinforces self-erasure, complicating the classic “killer” archetype by framing violence as an invisible act of inward social conformity.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

GLENS

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

English Language Teaching (ELT), covering innovative teaching methods, curriculum development, classroom strategies, language assessment, digital learning, and pedagogical practices in English education. English Linguistics, focusing on studies of language structure, applied linguistics, ...