Applicability: The Collector as a whole can function as a metaphor for a limerent attraction to someone. The first two parts of the book show Frederick being obsessed with Miranda -his limerence object-. He's awkward around her yet intensely attracted, is utterly devoted to her despite her lack of interest and later animosity. Then she does something to make him lose all respect, causing his "love" for her to turn into smouldering hate. Eventually, his hate for her dies along with their relationship with the ending showing the limerent cycle starting anew.
Diagnosed by the Audience: Frederick is an isolated young man with a poor grasp on social cues, an obsessive need to control and a desire to collect things in addition to having an extreme attraction to certain woman while being averse to having sex with them. It can be assumed that Frederick is either an undiagnosed autistic person or suffers from limerence.
Frederick's entire plot to kidnap Miranda and his overall attitude towards her and other woman is far more disturbing because his mindset is the prototype for the manosphere (specifically incels) due to obsessive feelings and a sense of entitlement.
The book's ending where Miranda is killed, and Frederick is implied to find a new victim to continue the cycle is creepier when you take into account that several serial killers such as Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, Christopher Wilder and Robert Berdella were inspired by the book to carry out their crimes. The first two in particular named their plan after Miranda, the female character in the book.
Moral Event Horizon: Frederick proceeds to show his true colours after Miranda has sex with him, hoping he'll let her go. Instead, he keeps her restrained and forces her to partake in humiliating, degrading photos and when she pleads for him to take her to a doctor, he refuses, and Miranda ends up dying from bronchitis.
Tear Jerker: After being kidnapped, imprisoned for months and abused by Frederick, poor Miranda dies a slow, agonizing death.
The Woobie: Miranda, despite being treated well, is horribly lonely. She's abducted by a strange man she barely knows and while she's allowed to live in luxury, it comes at the cost of her freedom (and eventually her life). Even when she's seen as snobby due to her educated upbringing, she's still someone who's trapped and alone with someone she doesn't love and who abuses her when things don't go his way.
