The Inner Conflicts Spawned by Doubling
In A Scanner Darkly Bob Archer was a character whose unified identity was dismembering in a manner that resembled the doppelganger effect.  It is through the prolonged use of Substance D, a psycho-hallucinogenic drug that catalyzes Archer’s latent persona into consciousness. From Archer’s flashbacks, we are shown a darker and angrier personality hidden underneath his composed status quo demeanor.














And you may ask yourself, how do I work this?
And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful wife!
And you may ask yourself, where is that large automobile?

Once In A Lifetime, Talking Heads
And you may ask yourself, how do I work this?And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house!And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful wife!And you may ask yourself, where is that large automobile?

However, through the use of the psycho-hallucinogenic drug Substance D, Archer’s consciousness had divided into two significant dichotomic entities: Archer the drug addict and Fred the undercover narcotics police agent. Even though normally these two personas are naturally antagonistic towards each other they still form the whole of Archer’s identity.

This identity divide is further enforced when Fred is observing his own house through surveillance systems. The doppelganger effect occurs, and Fred sees an apparition of himself through Archer on television. This situation is highly uncanny due to Fred’s ability to now witness himself through another lens daily and comprehend everything he does from another perspective. He can observe how repetitive his daily routines are, the little nuances that happen all around him or how strange his habits are from a different point of view. In Archer’s mind, he realizes how decrepit his current situation actually is and that there are very sordid things that happen in his house when he is not present.