There are many factors and events that led to the development of the crime fiction novel of the 1920s. From as far back as July 4, 1776 America has been coined the land of opportunity—a free land for all people and all purposes. It was also a country full of immigrants seeking that same prosperity. The only problem was that this “American dream” didn’t come as quickly as most thought it would. This resulted in the growth of America’s gun culture which was already deeply imbedded in this country’s roots. Immigrants who felt that they were being denied the American dream were quick to speed up the process and take it at gun point. These types of instances led to the cowboys and outlaws of the Wild West. At this same time, America was in the midst of its golden industrial era. These two factors led to the establishment of the Private Police Force who provided protection against criminals, train robbers and even controlling workers in places like Chicago. PPFs such as the Pinkerton Agency were also reportedly providing military-like services to the government. At one point, the Pinkerton Agency employed more agents than the United States army. Unfortunately these agents were often just as ruthless and corrupt as the outlaws they were hired to arrest. They ultimately became the inspirations for the hard boiled detectives in America. The golden age of crime fiction came about shortly after World War I. The economic growth combined with the introduction of prohibition lead to the rise of the 1920s American gangster. These gangsters were often wealthy enough to “buy out” the police and present themselves as businessmen. They became more respected than the officials which eventually lead to individuals looking to private detectives for jus...
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...turn out to be a part of a notorious gang. These situations don’t happen in every hard-boiled story but one can see how drastic the story line is compared to its classic counterpart.
These characteristics continued to appear in stories like Black Mask, Dime Detective and other major pulp fiction publications. Detectives like Race Williams, Continental Op and Oliver Quade appeared month after month as the readers demanded more of this “shoot-first-ask-questions-later fiction. For the youth of the 1920s, these hard-boiled detectives provided release from the depressive era that they were entering. The genre progressed in the 1930s and became a solid part of American culture. In later years, we began to see the mark of the hard-boiled detective in film and comic books. The hard-boiled detective has evolved into a distinct part of American culture that is here to stay
There is a thin line that exists between the depiction of a villain and a gangster that Hollywood has mastered walking on. While villains and gangsters may do many of the same things in movies, like stealing and killing, they each do them for different reasons. Villains enjoy crime because that is what gets them off; some may feel they are doing society a favor, like Uncle Charlie in Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, and others are more simply portrayed as naturally evil or mentally ill. But Gangsters are doing what they do for something American society can relate to—to make a living and, ultimately, get to the top.
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.
People are often remembered for being overly successful, extremely talented, or insanely wealthy; but there are exceptions to every rule. Being a fearless outlaw is not the ideal way to gain fame, but John Dillinger managed to do so. Dillinger’s fearless charisma, led him to go above and beyond to provoke law enforcement. Not many criminals have succeeded in the way John Dillinger did during the 1920s and 30s. He managed to put society in awe due to his obstreperous acts of rebellion. Being one of the most infamous criminals from his time, Dillinger had a huge influence on crime, and has greatly impacted gangsters all over the country.
The Pacific coast port city of San Francisco, California provides a distinctively mysterious backdrop in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. Unlike many other detective stories that are anchored in well-known metropolises such as Los Angeles or New York City, Hammett opted to place the events of his text in the lesser-known, yet similarly exotic cultural confines of San Francisco. Hammett used his own intricate knowledge of the San Francisco Bay Area - coupled with details collected during a stint as a detective for the now defunct Pinkerton Agency - to craft a distinctive brand of detective fiction that thrived on such an original setting (Paul 93). By examining the setting of 1920’s San Francisco in The Maltese Falcon, it becomes apparent that one of Hammett’s literary strengths was his exceptional ability to intertwine non-fictional places with a fictional plot and characters in order to produce a logical and exceedingly believable detective mystery.
The criminal underworld has been an essential aspect of crime fiction since the concept emerged in the mid-eighteenth century. While many authors have constructed their own idealistic conceptualizations of the criminal underworld, they have implemented distinct boundaries between the “good” and “evil” features of society. These opposing “worlds” often intertwine when the protagonist, a crusader for good, is thrust into the hellscape of society’s underworld. The novels A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson feature protagonists from differing backgrounds who embark on treacherous journeys through the criminal underworld.
With organized crime came many changes in the lives of all Americans then until this very day, and continues to affect all of us. Mobsters started running very illegal monopolies for a living and hiring common people to do their dirty work. This led to some very serious gang-related violence. Due to all of this occurring at the same time, it changed the way in which police forces were run. Prohibition led to widespread organized crime in the 1920s and 1930s because it opened up an illegal monopoly for gangs, initiated gang related violence, and the change in the way police forces operated, forever changing America as a result.
...r is much more difficult and requires extensive analysis. Female characters in American detective novels, stereotypically, exude the same blatant sexuality, helplessness and naivete and are therefore forced to exploit the only strengths they have in order to not be overwhelmed by the more forceful male characters. As can be seen in The Maltese Falcon the three female characters strive to maintain their power by any means necessary. Ironically, the character that exhibits the most masculine qualities and is the least sexual is the most successful. This proves that masculinity is equivalent to power and therefore women are powerless on many levels. The role of women is fairly constant in hard-boiled novels, and the struggle for power and control is an ever present theme.
Another common theme of this wildly intoxicated era was that of the gangsters. In the twenty-first century when the word gangster is uttered, often times images of minorities in baggy clothes comes to mind. However, when discussing the Prohibition Era the lives of gangsters are seen as much more glamorous, and none were more glamorous than that of the ultimate American gangster, Al “Scarface” Capone. Capone’s name brings to mind images of pinstripe suits, underground bars, bootleggers, flappers, and gun fights. His image embodies that of the Prohibition Era and his influence throughout society carries through it. Alphonse Capone is the ultimate American gangster.
The bosses often used prostitutes to "sweeten" deal between rival leaders or crooked politicians. They were as dangerous as the trained killers were, because they possessed something more powerful than guns. They were just as ruthless as the men that put holes in people's heads; they only came in a nicer package. The Mafia men of the 1920's and 1930's were some of the most influential men in American history. They robbed banks, killed people, stole, cheated, lied and corrupted an already corrupt country. They were not role models, and they did not aspire to be. They were businessmen, men who had only two objectives, money and power. They saw a need for something and they produced it.
What drives a person past insanity? What drives an individual to feel no remorse, but rather a psychological relief in murderous acts? Consider all the different types of people on Earth as well as the lifestyles and situations these people are raised up in. As much as it’s desired to think the world is filled with people who carry no such thing as a bad bone in their bodies, that thought process is simple deception. The fact is that psychopaths and sociopaths hide among others in everyday environments - neighbors, teachers, family members, doctors, friends, or even the local mailman. Psychopaths are declared as people who suffer from a mental disorder causing aggression and abnormal behaviors such as their “lack of
According to the Oxford Dictionary; a serial killer is a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. They usually go through a cooling down period where there are no murders. Then start the killing spree back up again after the cooling down period. The killing spree usually doesn’t last more than a couple of years without the murderer being caught. And there is usually a victim type and killing style which leads to the killer being identified. This is the definition of a serial killer so why is it so commonly believed that this is a male dominated area. “However, if, as seems to be the case in many countries, the only
The birth of classic detective fiction was originated just in the mid nineteenth century, and was producing its own genre. Classical detective fiction follows a set of rules called the ‘Ten commandments of detective fiction’. The genre is so popular it can bee seen by the number of sales in any good book stores. Many of these books have been created a long time ago and there is still a demand for these types of books. The popularity is still ongoing because it provides constant entertainment, and also the reader can also have a role of detective trying to solve the crime/case committed. Classical detective fiction has a formula, the detective story starts with a seemingly irresolvable mystery, typically a murder, features the astute, often unconventional detective, a wrongly accused suspect to whom the circumstantial evidence points, and concludes with a startling or unexpected solution to the mystery, during which the detective explains how he or she solved the mystery. Formula that includes certain elements such as, a closed location to keep the number of suspects down, red hearings spread around the stories to keep the reader entertained yet interacted.
...ruster into the realm of social scandals. In sum, social scandals are important to the mystery genre because for a detective to be called into a private setting, that setting must be threatened or disrupted in a way and social scandals function as the disruption. Though the private life operates predominantly in regards to men and specifically white males, we can also analyze how they function in categories or themes such as race, class, and gender. This ultimately allows the mystery genre to challenge misconceptions by writing under the theme of the social scandal.
Fiction stories are those stories not true or factual and are created by the author. These stories are imagined by the author and narrated to the reader. The reader has the opportunity to add their own imagination to the story to make the reading even more enjoyable. Fiction relies on the imagination of the author and the imagination of the reader along with the elements of fiction. Fiction readings are in the form of realistic and non-realistic. When discussing these two types of fiction readings two stories come to mind. The realistic story that comes to mind is the story of “A & P” by John Updike. John Updike is “…considered one of the best of American writers of fiction and poetry” and his story of “A & P” proves to be an ideal example of fiction (V., and Zweig 370). The non-realistic story is “The Fox and the Grapes”, which is found in Aesop’s Fables. Both of these narratives contain elements of fiction easily identified and therefore entertaining to discuss. Characters and point of view are two of the elements of fiction found in these two short stories. Discussion of these two elements, expand on the knowledge of fiction stories through examples and definitions.
Actus reus, mens rea…A guilty crime, a guilty mind. These words ring true for and crime, whether it is a simple misdemeanor, or as bad as a felony. Crimes can be any manner of things, from crimes against the person to crimes against property and against justice. The law has the extent of inchoate offenses, or “planning” to do a crime. These include an attempt at serious crime, conspiracy, incitement, or solicitation of services. Each of these is viewed differently in the eyes of the public and the eyes of those who interpret the law. In the United States, crime was at one of the highest rates in the world in the 1990’s, but has since decreased steadily. However, through massive amounts of mainstream media, the public is now far more aware of crime that does happen. The U.S. now spends far too much money and time focusing on legislation involving capital punishment, allowing jails to become over crowded with too-small crimes such as possession of marijuana, allowing ridiculous amounts of money to be spent on jails and prisoners.