Murder at the Margin is a murder mystery involving various economic concepts. The story takes place in Cinnamon Bay Plantation on the Virgin Island of St. John. It is about Professor Henry Spearman, an economist from Harvard. Spearman organizes an investigation of his own using economic laws to solve the case. Henry Spearman is not a normal person. Whenever he meets someone new he scrutinizes them from head to toe economically; not with a moral point of view like most people. He lives with his wife Pidge. He goes on a vacation to a resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. There, retired General Hudson T. Decker is found dead due to poisoning. As the local police investigate, Henry Spearman decides that the police are inadequate with their search and he decides to take matters into his own hands. Detective Franklin Vincent is unsuccessful in his search for the suspect as he chases leads that always end up being redirected to nowhere. Another murder …show more content…
“Murder at the ‘Margin’.” Marginal thinking is a major economic principle. It has very little effect and a small part in the plot but it is referenced in the title. It refers to making decisions of adding one more at a time: “Would it benefit me to add one more?” “If I added one more, would it be too much?” “What if I took one away?”. Those questions are questions that one would ask when thinking marginally. Probably one of the biggest economic debates is rationality. Whether a decision is rational or irrational. If I were to make a rational decision, it would most benefit me over all of the other choices I could have chosen from. This is how Professor Henry Spearman solves the case of the murder. All of the suspects are proven guilty or innocent based off of the decisions they make. If it is a rational decision, then the suspect is thought of as innocent. If it is an irrational decision, then the suspect is thought of as
The Murderers Are Among Us, directed by Wolfe Gang Staudte, is the first postwar film. The film takes place in Berlin right after the war. Susan Wallner, a young women who has returned from a concentration camp, goes to her old apartment to find Hans Mertens living there. Hans took up there after returning home from war and finding out his house was destroyed. Hans would not leave, even after Susan returned home. Later on in the film we find out Hans was a former surgeon but can no longer deal with human suffering because of his traumatic experience in war. We find out about this traumatic experience when Ferdinand Bruckner comes into the film. Bruckner, Hans’ former captain, was responsible for killing hundreds
Murder at the Margin, a novel written by Marshall Jevons, is a comprehensive murder mystery using economic theory to solve a collection of murders on a tropical island resort. The book really appeals to me because not only is the mystery a good one with an unexpected twist, but the main character, Professor Henry Spearman, is able to keep the reader on their toes about their suspicions throughout the book by using his knowledge and analysis of the economics observed in his everyday life. For one thing, I never imagined how the laws of economics could solve a murder. Frankly, I never caught on to who the real killer(s) could be until the big reveal at the end, and it is easy to be suspicious of the wrong people. Henry Spearman uses a multitude of economic concepts including: the law of demand, utility maximization, opportunity cost, and game theory to discover the identity of the murderer(s). However, to the untrained eye, these concepts may go unnoticed
The "Killings" is a short story written by Andre Dubus. Andre Dubus' short stories often portray tragedies, violence, anger and even tenderness. Throughout the story, Matt’s language constantly displays his deep affection for his family. After the death and funeral of his son Frank, his other two children quickly move back to their normal lives which displays that Frank was the only family nearby. His morals become quickly altered through the cold-blooded murder of his son and end with the act of murder.
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
Serial killers are one of the most fascinating and morbid groups of people to study. A
In the Time article, “The Death of the Death Penalty”, David Von Drehle addresses the controversial issue of the death penalty. The death penalty in the United States is a declining and flawed method of punishment. The problem of the American death penalty is still an issue in this day and age. Von Drehle compresses the flaws of the death penalty into five simple reasons.
CNN presents the documentary, Homicide in Hollenbeck, spotlighting gang activity in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollenbeck. This documentary explores the subculture of gangs existing within Hollenbeck from a several perspectives. The people documented include a mother who lost both of her sons to gang violence, a priest that has tried to help rehabilitate gang members, a police officer that has worked in Hollenbeck for five years in the gang unit, and a current gang member. For a conclusion, Homicide in Hollenbeck focuses on a juvenile exposed to gang life on the cusp of decided where they want their life to lead; gangs or freedom. Problems attributed to the high rate of gang activity and number of gangs in Hollenbeck are the high poverty rate, low employment rate, and broken families that make up the majority of Hollenbeck. The crime most discussed, as per the title of the documentary, is homicide The number of gang related homicides has risen even though the criminal behavior of gangs has ultimately decreased in the neighborhood. In order to fight the overwhelming gang presence, the police believe in increasing the amount of gun power on the streets and number of jailed gang members. The priest who runs Homeboy Industries stated that he feels most gang members are just young men who can’t get out of the gang life. With more funds and opportunities, he thinks the problem could be decreased. In the end, the documentary mentions that the FBI has formed a gang center where local law enforcement agencies can share information to gain more knowledge and to better fight the presence of gangs.
The death penalty or also known as capital punishment has been around for thousands of years, yet in today 's society, it is not very common to hear that a prisoner has been executed. There are hundreds of people that have been sentenced for death, but how many have actually had their sentence carried out? There are people who have been on death row for ten, twenty, and even thirty plus years still waiting for their execution. Which leads to the question of, how effective is capital punishment if prisoners are waiting for decades before procedure are even carried out. In his piece The Death of the Death Penalty, David Von Drehle talks about the possible end of capital punishment due to
Opponents argues that the death penalty does not deterrent individuals from committing crimes. However, there are evidence that death penalty saves lives. Opponents wants us to believe that criminals are unable to rationally make right or wrong choices. According to the rationality choice theory, human behavior are based on self-interest and rational choices about effective ways to accomplish goals with ...
The major theme of Andre Dubus’ Killing,s is how far someone would go for the person they love. It is important to note the title of the story is killings and not killers, for the reasoning that the story does not just focus on two deaths or two murderers but rather the death of marriage, friendship, youth, and overall, trust.
Serial killers differ from other types of murderers. The number of serial killers in the U.S. is staggering. Differences are clear between serial killing and conventional murders. Serial killing can be classified as either motive based or organizational and social based. The Holmes Typology helps to understand the motivations behind serial killing. Serial killers may be even motivated by fame as part of their motivation for killing. John Wayne Gacy could be seen as evil due to his repeated violent acts. Jeffrey Dahmer was also evil by committing his acts of serial murders. Both Gacy and Dahmer had police records prior to their arrests for serial murders. Serial killers are poor candidates for rehabilitation. Their acts are evil.
As modern society proves itself to be extremely violent, an article written published by real policy, proves otherwise. It is stated that, “The area around the capitol is also extremely safe” [1].
Serial murder investigations are the most difficult cases for investigators. Serial murder investigations can become wide spread, and can include many challenges that will require time, money and resources. An example of the commitment required to investigate a serial murder case is that of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. One investigator worked the investigation full time for 11 years. The day he made the Arrest was the day he retired. Serial murder is one of today’s most terrifying crimes. The killing of multiple people within various jurisdictions can alter everyday life for people residing within these communities. The result is intense pressure from the public and media placed on investigators to track down and apprehend these killers who commit such horrific acts to unsuspecting victims.
Allowing murderers to literally squeeze the life out of their victims strangling is a very common and intimate form of murder as the level of intimacy that arises from being so close to their victims as they live their last moments appeals greatly to those perpetrators who are sexually propelled to strangle their victims while raping them. It is speculated that victims of serial killers who strangled them are largely rapped by their killer as they bask in the intimacy of the moment of death. However, this does not discount that in several homicide cases asphyxiation occurs not for the intimacy of the act but as a means of opportunity as no other means of weapon are at hand. Yet, for a meager group of murderers strangling seems to be an intrinsic
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.