Smart Dating

Analysis of Benazir Bhutto

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1988-1996) was assassinated December 27, 2007, just two months after returning to Pakistan from a 10-year exile.

Ms. Bhutto was educated at Harvard and Oxford, having acquired degrees from each. She maintained a more Western liberal outlook, with a platform of spreading democracy and routing corruption, crime and fundamentalist extremism in her country. Her father, also a previous Prime Minister, was hanged, and her two brothers were murdered, forcing her to take over the Pakistan People’s Party. She spent many years either in exile or under house arrest for her political inheritance.

Her handwriting divulges the character and outlook of this highly influential figure. Closed up ovals in the middle zone of the writing show she preferred to keep her speech plain and to-the-point. Also she did not care for others’ opinions unless they mirrored her philosophies, though she was loath to admit it. Her education likely led her to be open-mined and tolerant.

Being learned and well-spoken gave her the edge a politician needs. Her writing shows initiative, lack of caution, and directness (see “CEO Success Traits”). Intelligence (threadiness, consistent lettering, simplicity of writing), insight (gaps between letters), and a strong focus on today (middle zone emphasis) also helped her lead her people. Bhutto was one of the most well-known, educated, respected, and reviled Pakistani leaders in history. Her death has caused upheaval in her country just days before elections, complete with fires, rioting, bombings and shootings. Her effectiveness will linger.

Even with her talents, she had insecurities. A few arcaded terminal strokes and down-turned letters (the “f” in “difficulties) show an underlying fear of getting ahead. Benazir, while being Prime Minister, may have felt at odds with her achievements. Living in a sexist society, she rebelled against the norm by becoming a leader, yet she probably feared accomplishing “too much”…for a woman. The Middle Eastern view of female accomplishment likely propelled her defiance, while still making her unconsciously doubt whether she “should” strive for more.

Initial letter strokes (both stiff and curved) indicate resentment, and feeling deprived and entitled to get back what was taken away (her office, freedom, her father, democracy..?). Many incomplete curved lower zone strokes (unfinished tails of y’s, g’s, f’s), and strokes heading straight down into the lower zone, back this up. Benazir trusted few people and suffered a feeling of emptiness and incompletion.

Benazir’s signature stops with a period, suggesting a person who insists upon having the last word. Yet she was also receptive and preferred to avoid conflict, as the many garlands in her handwriting suggest. Garlands also belie a “warm and fuzzy” personality.

Perhaps she wished to appear exceedingly friendly to gain trust, then found herself required to be tough and cold at times, as the threadiness of her form also reveals. She could manipulate and conceal as needed. While not officially proven in an impartial court of law, her party was ousted from government on corruption charges in 1990.

Earning degrees from both Harvard and Oxford tells us she well understood and adopted western society’s acceptance of successful women; still the beliefs we grow up with are hard to alter. She was forced to deal with and face the realities of two opposing worlds, with one foot in each. Thus her ability to be receptive and kind and manipulative all at once – survival and tact were key.

The first sentence “Life is a constant struggle” suggests she saw the world from a defeatist view point, which she strove to overcome. Generally, handwriting that moves somewhat uphill is an indication of optimism. However, when it heads uphill strongly, deliberately, it is more often an attempt to fight, ignore or beat depression and fatigue. Benazir’s uphill baseline is probably a denial of underlying feelings of discouragement.

As an analyst, the impression I get from her handwriting are twofold and contrasting: 1) I want what I want, and I will do quite a lot of fighting to get it, even without approval; and 2) if I don’t get it, I won’t like it, but I will remain resolute and tactful.

The final paragraph of this sample reads somewhat like a suicide note. Also notice how, in this note, the word “relationships” heads downhill in the last few letters. Words that frequently drop off like this within one sample indicate suicidal tendencies. Seeing it just once in Benazir’s sample suggests the thought of death was there, but not imminent. One of her childhood friends claims she called him a few hours before the first attack on her life to say good-bye to him.

Benazir Bhutto was killed in the same place the previous attempt on her life failed. Waving at the crowds from the sunroof of her armored car suggests she was somewhat careless about her existence. Perhaps she felt a notorious death would do the most good for her embattled country. Her words on paper and actions over time seem to foreshadow the outcome of her life as a martyr.

Comments are closed.