Misfit In Crime

Fascination with the crime fiction and socially deviant characters has hit an all-time high. Rachel Franks author of “A Taste for Murder: The Curious Case of Crime Fiction,” states “it has been estimated that as many as one in every three new novels, published in English, is classified within the crime fiction category” (1). Yet a quick glance at the evidence Franks presents might makes it difficult for some to believe. People like John Sutherland a former chairman of the

judges for one of the world's most famous literary awards who suggests submitting a crime novel for the Booker Prize would be: "like 255 putting a donkey into the Grand National"(Franks 4).One can assume he doesn't seem to think highly of the quality of crime fiction . Despite

this disparagement, there is something about crime fiction and these deviant characters that seem to appeal to other audience desires to create such a demand .Short stories, “A Rose for Emily”, “A good man is hard to find, “The pedestrians”, “The Black Cat” are prime examples of this appeal, seeing that they’ve retained popularity over the years, even through the decades. Factors
that attract people to these stories are, the character personalities, envy of character freedoms,
feelings of relatability , and the realism of the stories.
Crime fiction tends to be great reading candy because the unexpected, complex
personalities of the deviant characters make for an exciting story.

It could be said that it’s human nature to be attracted and attempt to understand to something new and unusual. The misfit is an example of a character who is very unusual and doesn't fit the stereotypical image of an evil psychopathic killer displayed on mainstream crime television. In “A good man is hard to find”

author Flannery O'Connor writes “I was a gospel singer for a while," The Misfit said. "I been most everything. Been in the arm service, both land and sea, at home and abroad, been twice married, been an undertaker, been with the railroads, plowed Mother Earth, been in a tornado, seen a man burnt alive once"(8).Other than seeing a man burnt alive the reader can see the

misfit,
has experienced things a normal person could have. So it begs the question why is he a misfit? The fact that he’s lived such a normal life makes him more captivating, more complex. Readers are inclined to dig deeper on what happened to turn him down the role of deviance. This builds reader's interest, it can be concluded that the relationship between the bizarreness of a character's personality and reader arousement is directly proportional. Another example of a character with an unusual personality is Miss Emily Grieson in “A Rose for Emily”. She exhibits her bizarre secretive personality traits through the story. In one specific section Faulkner notes, “From that time on her front door remained closed, save for a period of six or seven years”(8).It’s one thing to be a little introverted but miss Emily remains in recluse for at least six years, that’s more than odd and that catches the reader eye. It can be expected for readers like Emily’s neighbors to start question what she’s doing or to make assumptions on what she’s doing in the house as they are examining the story. It’s this odd personalities that are by readers in crime stories, they can’t get enough of the eccentric characters.
Although the character personalities in crime fiction interest the readers very much, it’s the relatability of the flaws in character personalities that keeps their interest.

It’s not an exaggeration to say humans are attracted to people with similar characteristics to their own. In “The Black Cat” the narrator confesses, “Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which my general temperament and character -- through the instrumentality of the Fiend Intemperance -- had (I blush to confess it) experienced a radical alteration for the worse”. There are readers who know or suffer from this affliction of radical temperament alteration due to alcoholism. This leads them to have some kind of an emotional attachment to the character because they either empathize or are disgusted with him. The more emotional attachment they have with this narrator the more their invested in his story and are likely to read on. It’s this feedback loop of appealing to readers’ egos that causes them to consistently enjoy crime fiction and deviant

characters.
In addition to the relatability of these characters, there’s the interest factor in knowing that these crime stories can occur in real life. A realistic crime story builds a shock factor and contributes to reader’s engagement with stories in comparison to something like a Greek mythology. In the Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury a robot responds to Leonardo Mead request to know where he was going by saying, “To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies” (4).A reader can reflect and compare their own society to Mr. Meads and wonder if they can be in the same situation. This realistic factor drives questions and creates extensive interaction with the story, making these crime fiction stories prime subjects for analysis. Due to them being prime subjects for analysis, schools and academic settings are likely to use them in discussions creating furthered fascination with an increased amount of readers. It’s cool that crime fiction stories can occur and this only furthers, it can create a lot of what if questions and discussion on the state of society and crime.
Readers are not only fascinated with these devious characters in crime fiction for all positive reasons but also because they envy of devious characters social freedoms. People tend to be obsessed with things they can’t have and this is evident in their choices in entertainment, celebrities and in this case stories. In “A Rose for Emily”, Miss Emily reiterates, "I have no taxes in Jefferson”, she completely denies her social obligation of paying taxes. It’s easy to say this would come to a shock to an average reader, how the leaders of her community cannot punish her paying her taxes. The reader would also love to be in the same position as Emily and be envious of her tax free life. This jealousy of the social freedom Emily has is another example of why people continue to be entranced by crime fiction, readers consciously vice versa want to behave in some ways like the characters.
When it comes down to it crime fiction is likely to remain a reader’s favorite for some time. Crime fiction connects with readers, the realism is exciting, and people love the deviant character personalities and are often envious of the characters social freedoms. When a reader glances at a crime fiction novel, they are expecting these thrills that something like nonfiction biography is probably lacking in.