Johan has been interpreted as "Bergman's alter ego". Professor Frank Gado interprets the film as the "story of an artist's disintegration" (also arguing it reflects "Bergman's own unraveling", and criticizing the film). Author Dan Williams similarly reads it as a "story of the self-destructive artist unable to maintain a relationship with reality". Psychiatrist Barbara Young writes that "Hour of the Wolf", like "Persona", was about "the disintegration of a personality" (also rejecting Gado's commentary on "Bergman's own unraveling" and instead praising his courage for addressing his issues). The artist's "humiliation" is also depicted. Gado connects Johan to Karin in Bergman's 1961 "Through a Glass Darkly", remarking that Johan is at a crossroads where he "must choose between two worlds": real life and his nightmare visions. Gado considers whether Johan may fear he is homosexual, writing Johan's "perversity manifests itself in transvestism, masochism, and necrophilia, yet none of these necessarily indicates homosexuality".