One of the basic assumptions underlying any detective novel is a sense of social order. The novelist assumes that the reader agrees that killing people is wrong; it does not matter if the victims are exemplary citizens or odious individuals, it is the mere act of snuffing out anothers life that is against the social order. In P.D. James A Mind To Murder, Nurse Marion Bolams murder of her stuffy and self-righteous cousin Enid illustrates a situation where the nurse and her invalid mother had suffered from her cousins stinginess; James gives us a clear look at the murderers fear that if Enid had been given time to change her will as she had threatened to do, the Marion and her mother would never get the money to which they considered themselves entitled. However, James urges us to understand, this does not matter. Murder, for whatever reason it is committed, is still murder, and it is always wrong. However, the murder of Enid Bolam is not the only violation of the social order which James describes in this book. Chief amongst his other villains is Peter Nagle, the young and attractive porter at the Steen Clinic. Peter is also a gifted painter, and is only working at the clinic to pay his living expenses while he waits for a prestigious arts grant to come his way. However, Peter is infected with the arrogance of those who feel that their talent entitles them to liberties unavailable to the rest of society. He lives in a magnificent studio apartment, and owns only the very best painting equipment. He obviously cannot afford this on a clinic-porters salary, so he figures out a way to, with Marion Bolams help, blackmail former patients into paying him fifteen pounds each per month in return for his silence about their embarrassing diagnoses. The possibility that maybe he should make do with a less impressive dwelling and less extravagant equipment never seems to occur to Peter because, after all, he is Peter Nagle. He has been told over and over again that he is brilliant, talented, headed for certain fame. Thus he reacts with the arrogance one would expect of such an august personage. This constitutes a disruption of the social order because Peter will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and to go where he wants to go. He takes advantage of the young Jennifer Priddy, a clerical employee at the clinic and his nude model. She is deeply in love with him, and he has no real regard for her at all. She is eager to back up his false statements -- not because she knows they are false, but because she wants to clear him of any suspicion. As the novel goes on, however, Peter becomes more interested in Marion Bolam. Again, just as he was only interested in Jennifer Priddy for the beautiful body he could depict in his paintings, he is only interested in Marion for the money which, after her cousin Enids death, she was certain to inherit. Having access to Marions money in addition to the Bollinger grant will enable him to live for the rest of his life in the style to which he feels himself entitled. Therefore he is more than willing to help Marion create the perfect murder. By the time he discovers Marion in the clinic basement, Marion has already hit Enid over the head with a wooden statue to stun her, and plunged Peters chisel into her heart. It was Peter who arranged the wooden statue on Enids body, half whimsically and possibly also to make it look like a ritualistic killing. But if blackmail and accessory to murder is not enough, Peter is willing to go even further. He has been working together with Marion Bolam in the blackmail scheme, and when he realizes how close she is to a huge fortune, the lovesick Jennifer Priddy is simply an albatross around his neck. If he could get rid of Jennifer once and for all, he would simultaneously rid himself of someone who a) knew too much, 2) was too desperate to spend her life in his arms, and 3) stood between himself and his new love, an heiress. Consequently he determines to kill Jennifer and make it appear a suicide. He is actually doing a very good job at it, too -- except he is surprised by Detective Dalgliesh at the crucial moment, just as he himself surprised Marion Bolam. There is one significant difference, however. Adam Dalgliesh is determined to uphold the same social order that Marion Bolam and Peter Nagle were determined to undermine. Consequently Jennifer Priddys life is saved in the nick of time, and the solution to all the crimes is unraveled. Although these are the most flagrant violations of social order in this novel, there are a number of others as well. A third violation is represented by the situation of Dr. James Baguley. He is married to a woman who has some form of neurosis. Mrs. Baguley is very dependent on him and very recriminatory about his leaving her alone or even being late arriving home from work. One could argue that some of this is the result of Dr. Baguleys affair with a co-worker, Fredrica Saxon. On the other hand, there is every evidence that Mrs. Baguleys neurotic behavior preceded the affair, not resulted from it (at least this is the impression we get from Miss Saxon herself). Nonetheless, the author seems to argue, while living with a neurotic and clingy wife is certainly a strain, it does not license one to have an affair. To do so is to subvert the social order again, and it inevitably results in tragedy. The tragedy in this case amounted to the public outing of Miss Saxons and Dr. Baguleys affair, and the situation is only completely rectified when Miss Saxon turns to religion, the Baguleys renew their wedding vows (thus affirming their basic love and fidelity) and Miss Saxon leaves the Steen Clinic to work at a church-sponsored clinic for mentally-retarded children in a distant northern city. The final three pages of the novel are, in many ways, the most important part of the book in terms of their reaffirmation of the basic importance of the social order. In this final section, the garrulous Mrs. Shorthouse, a domestic assistant at the Clinic, comes back some time after the case is closed to update Inspector Dalgliesh on what has happened to everyone involved. Throughout the novel, one has been struck powerfully by how fundamentally wrong is the entire situation at the Steen Clinic. This motif is set in the very first pages of the novel by the long and involved ruminations of Dr. Steiner (a character who actually has a relatively small part in the proceedings), expostulating on how the clinic is cramped, the doctors are under-appreciated, and there is a general air of resentment amongst all the employees, whether professional or not. Clearly there is a significant problem with burnout amongst these people, and we soon learn that their personal lives are even less fulfilling and wholesome than the situation at work. All this points, James implies, to a widespread violation of the social order which produces personal unhappiness as well. However, in the final scene involving the meeting between Mrs. Shorthouse and Inspector Dalgliesh, we find that many of those situations, which came to a head during the course of the novel, have been rectified. Mrs. Shorthouse tells the Inspector that not only have the Baguleys remarried and Miss Saxon gone to work at a convent, as she puts it (James, 254), but Miss Priddy has moved out of her parents home and gotten her own apartment, together with a new job at a chest clinic. Nagle and Marion Bolem are in prison, and Marions invalid mother, who wasnt really at fault in any of this, has gone to live in a nursing home where she will be well-cared for, since her daughter obviously wont be there to do it. This isnt a perfect solution, but it isnt a perfect world, and it would be false to P.D. James premises to assume that everything can be returned to a state of Eden. However, James seems to feel that we as social beings have an obligation to keep everything as close to an ideal social paradigm as possible. Only in this way will everyone be in a position to achieve maximum happiness. The narcissism of Peter Nagle serves as a sober warning that we are not put on earth to ride roughshod over everyone else in our selfish search for happiness, but that happiness is a social construct in which everyone should reap equal benefit and for which everyone should assume equal responsibility.
In Cold Blood, a novel written by Truman Capote and published in 1966, is, though written like fiction, a true account of the murder of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. This evocative story illuminates new insights into the minds of criminals, and how society tends to act as a whole, and achieves its purpose by utilizing many of the techniques presented in Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In In Cold Blood, Capote uses symbols of escape and American values, and recurring themes of egotism and family to provide a new perspective on crime and illustrate an in-depth look at why people do the things they do.
Crime is seen by the public opinion is unorthodox as well as cruel, in turn the public believes that only sick and twisted people from horrid backgrounds are capable of committing crime. Novelist and journalist Truman Capote writes in his book, In Cold Blood, about the Holcomb, Kansas murders of the Clutter family. The general public believed that the criminals were insane, but Capote wanted a deeper insight into the story by analyzing the crime and the murderers. Through embedding himself in his characters, fiction-style nonfiction, irony, foreshadowing, repetition, and cinematic style of writing, Truman Capote portrays crime and evil as normal human emotions that are poorly expressed in unwanted or hostile situations.
These two men, both coming from different backgrounds, joined together and carried out a terrible choice that rendered consequences far worse than they imagined. Living under abuse, Perry Smith never obtained the necessary integrity to be able to pause and consider how his actions might affect other people. He matured into a man who acts before he thinks, all due to the suffering he endured as a child. Exposed to a violent father who did not instill basic teachings of life, Smith knew nothing but anger and misconduct as a means of responding to the world. He knew no other life. Without exposure to proper behavior or responsible conduct, he turned into a monster capable of killing an entire family without a blink of remorse. In the heat of the moment, Perry Smith slaughtered the Clutter family and barely stopped to take a breath. What could drive a man to do this in such cold blood? The answer lies within his upbringing, and how his childhood experiences shaped him to become the murderer of a small family in Holcomb, Kansas. ¨The hypothesis of unconscious motivation explains why the murderers perceived innocuous and relatively unknown victims as provocative and thereby suitable targets for aggression.¨ (Capote 191). ¨But it is Dr. Statten´s contention that only the first murder matters psychologically, and that when
...either losing their place in the hierarchical society, in which both of these works are set in. Social status during this time is what makes and breaks your success and the way other people view you, as well as the way you view yourself. In Mrs. Dalloway, social status is really about whether you are able to get invited to the parties and afford the right things, and more related to wealth. While in Pride and Prejudice social status is all about marriage and status over love. In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa was in love with Richard Dalloway and still is. Mr. Dalloway is very much in love with Mrs. Dalloway, as well as Peter was once very in love with Clarissa and may even still be. Love does not control their lives, but their lives are not only controlled by status either, unlike in Pride and Prejudice, where status is all that matters in life, and the rest will follow.
Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini are three of the world’s most detested dictators responsible for countless deaths. They all show signs of self-destructive behavior, paranoia, and narcissism. It is arguable that these acts of evil are innate, but it can also be argued that they are the product of a corrupt society. Ted Bundy, Adam Lanza, and Charles Manson are responsible for more than a handful of the most horrific murders in American history. These killers are all diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD); this causes people to be callous, possess a superficial charm, and they tend to have an inclination towards aggressive acts. While it is obvious that something went wrong in their genetic makeup, it is society that pushed them past their limits. In A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, there are two notable villains. One is an aristocrat referred to as the Younger Marquis St. Evrémonde, and the other is one of the leading revolutionaries introduced as Madame Defarge. These cruel personas are pushed to an extreme that is hard to come back from whether it ...
Truman Capote finds different ways to humanize the killers throughout his novel In Cold Blood. He begins this novel by explaining the town of Holcomb and the Clutter family. He makes them an honest, loving, wholesome family that play a central role in the town. They play a prominent role in everyone’s lives to create better well-being and opportunity. Capote ends his beginning explanation of the plot by saying, “The suffering. The horror. They were dead. A whole family. Gentle, kindly people, people I knew --- murdered. You had to believe it, because it was really true” (Capote 66). Despite their kindness to the town, someone had the mental drive to murder them. Only a monster could do such a thing --- a mindless beast. However,
In this essay, you will see the resemblance between the lovely bones by Alice Sebold and my friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf. They both have aspects of killers, passion, and curiosity. The main theme of these of two books is passion. Passion gives people an intense desire or enthusiasm on all things they do. Jeffery Dahmer had the passion to kill innocent men. Mr. Harvey had the passion to rape and kill girls. And Jack Salmon had the passion to find his daughter’s murderer and get the justice she deserves.
In Truman Capote’s famous non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, there is evidence that supports the injustices of the trial: death penalty. The final outcome of the trail was never to be any different than death. “Of all the people in all the world, the Clutters were the least likely to be murdered” (Capote 85). We know the two men who killed the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Bill Hickock, preplanned the crime with malice and forethought. Although the actions were crul and grusome, does Death Row fit what they did if their pasts, childhood environments and situation, are bad. Capote shows the effect of childhood on the killers and if the death penalty is fair. Capote gives the killers a voice to show their humanity by giving childhood accounts of their lives. He questions the justice of is the death penalty fair, and if inherent evil is a product of childhood or society. Is it nature or nurture? Capote gives a look into the minds of the killers and the nature vs. nurture theory. The detailed account the killers’ childhoods makes the reader sympathize with the Clutter family’s killers Smith and Hickock. Should they reserve the death penalty? Did Truman Capote take a stand on the death penalty? By giving the readers a detailed accounting of Perry Smith’s and Dick Hickock’s childhood, Capote sets up the reader for nurture vs. nature debate on the death penalty. The question then becomes, do the effects (if any) caused by environment in childhood make for a trained killer or a natural born one?
Serial murder is the killing of at least three individuals, each in separate events, with a cooling-off period in between. So what drives seemingly ordinary people to deviate from social norms and become serial killers? This is the question many speculate about and are fascinated to uncover, yet the conclusive answer is unknown; some attribute this deviant behavior to a psychological predisposition, while others contend social influences are responsible (i.e., we are products of our environments). Through my research, I will attempt to explain in the case of the America’s first large-scale serial killer, H. H. Holmes, through the sociological strain theory, labeling theory, and maladaptive socialization.
Throughout the book many things had changed but perhaps the most noticeable was the themes. The corrupt themes present at the start of the book slowly became less and prominent over time. At the end they were no longer there and the themes arising at the beginning had fully developed and flourished. Although Nurse Ratched attempted to control the patients with the themes of conformity and emasculation McMurphy became a savior figure and helped to rescue them from her matriarchy using the themes of expressed sexuality and laughter’s power.
Murder looked upon as a “crime of passion” that results from emotions of rage and jealously. In a twisted turn of fate, individuals are more captivated to gain an insight of the killer’s background than to know of his or her heinous actions. Unfortunately, serial killers appeal to people not in the most moral way but in an ambiguous, fascinating manner through the work of words, actions, and personality traits. A stereotypical description consists of psychopathic tendencies, lack of empathy, and a complex conscious. However, what we fail to notice is not every serial killer is intelligent or dark in nature, most appear normal the most petrifying characterization of a serial murderer. Serial killer’s ability to camouflage is what sets them apart distinctively, which I believe is their strong yet disturbing point in the maintenance of a wicked
Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice "Shylock is a two dimensional villain who does not deserve our
otherwise be able to get jobs may be able to do so at the shops around
Michael Sanders, a Professor at Harvard University, gave a lecture titled “Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do? The Moral Side of Murder” to nearly a thousand student’s in attendance. The lecture touched on two contrasting philosophies of morality. The first philosophy of morality discussed in the lecture is called Consequentialism. This is the view that "the consequences of one 's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.” (Consequentialism) This type of moral thinking became known as utilitarianism and was formulated by Jeremy Bentham who basically argues that the most moral thing to do is to bring the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people possible.
Murder is considered a serious crime in our country. The loosely defined term of murder implies that a person who kills another human being with intent is known as being the worst kind of violent crime we see in our society. Any unlawful killing requires that a living person be killed and it does not mean that the guilty person feels any hatred or spite in order to plan and execute the act of murder. Moreover, the destructive acts that end peoples lives are classified as homicides which include manslaughter and first and second degree murder. More important, the justice system has put different labels on such crimes, but it also allows room for criminals to get away with murder.