If you’re a fan of Apple TV+’s Severance, your day is about to get better! Apple has just released eight chapters of The You You Are, the fictional self-help book by Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale that plays a crucial role in the show. You can read it for free or listen to the audiobook narrated by Ricken himself (played by actor Michael Chernus).
The snippets from The You You Are featured in Severance are some of the most humorous moments of the show. However, the book serves a deeper purpose beyond laughs: it provides insight into how propaganda operates, both in the Severance universe and in real life.
In the “outie” world, The You You Are is regarded as a farcical self-help book that only the gullible take seriously. Conversely, in the world of the innies, a pirated copy of The You You Are is perceived as a transformative masterpiece with the potential to change lives. This perception is influenced by the presence of The Compliance Handbook, a dense text used by Lumon to maintain control over its employees. The innies’ blind admiration for Ricken’s work echoes the behavior of those who skim through a book or read a headline and believe they grasp a complex issue—who hasn’t encountered these individuals?
What is The You You Are About?
Ricken’s book excerpt is both humorous and aligns with the show’s dark comedic tone. It begins with, “It’s said that as a child, Wolfgang Mozart killed another boy by slamming his head in a piano. Don’t worry. My research for this book has proven the claim untrue,” and continues to entertain.
Ricken’s book claims to be a practical guide to self-improvement, where readers are encouraged to gain self-awareness through a series of steps:
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Identify your YouType (more on that later), jot it down, and stick it on your vanity.
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Write your name on another post-it and place it next to your YouType.
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Select a theology and add a “totem” of it to your YouShrine. Ricken suggests items like a Christian cross, an An-Ra Scarab, or a Masonic square and compass, even proposing a picture of himself.
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Add something you find attractive. Ricken describes this as, “Something that whispers to your nethers in a voice only they can hear,” suggesting items like a vintage pinup photo or a beloved undergarment, or even a picture of him.
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Recall an insult you’ve received. Form an acrostic poem using the letters of each word in the insult and display it on your vanity. Ricken uses the phrase, “Everyone laughs at you the second you walk out of the fucking room,” which was once told to him by Severance‘s main character Mark S.
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Print and paste a poem that Ricken authored onto your vanity.
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“Conceive and establish a charitable organization based on a cause dear to you… Whether you aim to control bear populations, assist the infirm, or provide bottled water to astronauts, persist until the organization is operational. Once your licensing paperwork arrives, display it on your vanity among your totems.”
That’s where the excerpt concludes. It’s unfortunate; I hear page 197 is a standout!
Does The You You Are Contain Clues About the Plot of Severance?
In Chapter 3, Ricken refers to attending a theater to see “an American religious satire film which I consider to be the most over-celebrated piece of commercial cinema ever produced,” known to us as Sister Act. This reference, along with other hints in the show, suggests that Severance is set in a world similar to our own, despite the outdated technology and vehicles from the ’80s and ’90s.
The You You Are also provides substantial backstory about Ricken’s character. For instance, he was conceived and born during a “nine-month performance art piece originated by [his] parents titled ‘Smells Like Afterbirth, F**ker.'”
However, the source of Ricken’s wealth remains a mystery. It likely isn’t from book sales, and with performance artist parents, it’s improbable that he inherited family money—unless, as some online theories suggest, Ricken is a black sheep of the Eagan family.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of The You You Are are the sections discussing Ricken’s feelings toward Mark’s (possibly deceased) wife, Gemma. Ricken expresses affection for Gemma, which could be a misleading clue, but as Severance progresses, I wouldn’t be shocked if Ricken’s feelings for Gemma become a pivotal plot element.
The Deeper Meaning of The You You Are in the Severance Universe
The central theme of Ricken’s book is the “YouType,” a fictional psychological concept typical of self-help literature, pseudo-science, and cults—akin to “love languages,” the Myers-Briggs personality test, and Scientology’s “emotional tone scale.”
According to Ricken, everyone fits into one of five YouTypes: The Coward, The Warrior, The Dove, The Scribe, and The Vestal. This concept parallels Lumon’s Compliance Manual. Kier Eagan categorizes individuals into four “tempers”: Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice, with everyone else defined by the ratios of these temperaments. Ricken’s superficial aphorisms and Kier’s solemn dogma seem like two sides of the same coin.
When Lumon’s “powers that be” discover that the book has inspired the innies to revolt, their response isn’t to ban or discredit The You You Are. Instead, they approach Ricken with a proposal to create a new edition specifically for innies. Eager for validation, Ricken is willing to proceed with the project, enabling his work to gain some respect. Lumon’s intention is to co-opt the (unintentionally) rebellious themes in Ricken’s book to uphold the company’s status quo, which isn’t difficult since the book contains statements like, “A society with festering workers cannot flourish, just as a man with rotting toes cannot skip.”
This serves as a clever commentary on how revolutionary ideas are frequently manipulated and appropriated to benefit the ruling class while individuals are easily misled into believing they are “sticking it to the Man,” even as the Man profits and safeguards itself by diluting potent ideas. Think of Wal-Mart selling Che Guevara t-shirts or a multinational corporation producing a series about the dehumanization and suffering of corporate life.
