P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder - Social Order
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 another’s life that is against the social order. In P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder, Nurse Marion Bolam’s murder of her stuffy and self-righteous cousin Enid illustrates a situation where the nurse and her invalid mother had suffered from her cousin’s stinginess; James gives us a clear look at the murderer’s 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-porter’s salary, so he figures out a way to, with Marion Bolam’s help, blackmail former patients into paying him fifteen pounds...
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...r, who wasn’t 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 won’t be there to do it.
This isn’t a perfect solution, but it isn’t 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.
The film Capote, based on the how the writer of “In Cold Blood” did his research to write his book, a masterpiece of literature, has portrayed Capote’s behavior during his research vividly. Capote’s behavior during the years Perry waits on death row in order to get personal testimony of the night of killings is a controversial topic. Some argue that what Capote did was absolutely necessary for an ambitious writer to create such a master piece while other argue that human ethics is more important than the creation of an ideal “non-fiction noble” and the paths he took to get there are morally ambiguous. Even though he gave the world a milestone in literature, his behaviors seem unethical because he lied, pretended to be a friend of an accused murderer who was in a death row, and did not have any empathy to him.
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
Throughout his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote continuously contrasts the kindheartedness and innocence of the Clutters to the malicious, manipulative demeanor of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith to emphasize the cold, cruel nature of their crime. By harshly interrupting peaceful, endearing images of Nancy Clutter baking a pie with descriptions of Dick and Perry planning the town darling’s very murder, Capote consistently juxtaposes good and evil. His tactic descriptions of the seemingly discordant yet parallel occurrences in different settings and employment of strong imagery and pathos throughout the novel prove effective in not only developing characterization and appealing to the reader’s emotions but building the contrast between good and evil that
The imperial tactics of the British Empire were exercised on the colonists through heavy taxes trade restrictions because of their mercantilist economy. The Stamp Act taxed the colonists directly on paper goods ranging from legal documents to newspapers. Colonists were perturbed because they did not receive representation in Parliament to prevent these acts from being passed or to decide where the tax money was spent. The colonists did not support taxation without representation. The Tea Act was also passed by Parliament to help lower the surplus of tea that was created by the financially troubled British East India Company. The colonists responded to this act by executing the Boston Tea Party which tossed all of the tea that was imported into the port of Boston. This precipitated the Boston Port Act which did not permit the colonists to import goods through this port. The colonists protested and refused all of these acts which helped stir the feelings of rebellion among the colonists. The British Mercantilist economy prevented the colonists from coin...
The Boston tea party was a brief incident among many, composing, economic, and political crisis that ultimately caused a revolution. These events consisted of The French and Indian war, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Revenue Act, the Tea Act, and of course the Boston Tea Party. The incident caused by the colonies infuriated the British government therefore as punishment parliament responded to the abuse with the Coercive Acts of 1774 . When the thirteen colonies once again decided to resist the British troops revolution spread. “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” This act later on lead to the American Revolutionary War, were years later independence was
Human nature is a conglomerate perception which is the dominant liable expressed in the short story of “A Tell-Tale Heart”. Directly related, Edgar Allan Poe displays the ramifications of guilt and how it can consume oneself, as well as disclosing the nature of human defense mechanisms, all the while continuing on with displaying the labyrinth of passion and fears of humans which make a blind appearance throughout the story. A guilty conscience of one’s self is a pertinent facet of human nature that Edgar Allan Poe continually stresses throughout the story. The emotion that causes a person to choose right from wrong, good over bad is guilt, which consequently is one of the most ethically moral and methodically powerful emotion known to human nature. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe displays the narrator to be rather complacent and pompous, however, the narrator establishes what one could define as apprehension and remorse after committing murder of an innocent man. It is to believe that the narrator will never confess but as his heightened senses blur the lines between real and ...
Sayres, William G. “Compounding the Crime: Ingratitude and the Murder Conviction of Justine Moritz in Frankenstein.” Sayres, "Compounding the Crime", knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/sayres.html.
The bulk of the impact illegal immigrants have on the economy happens mainly on labor force workers. The impact is more negative on the lower end of the wage scale because illegal immigrants can work for lower wages less than minimum wage. They work tax free as non-citizens. This works to steep the job market with cheaper and readily available labor. Certain companies look to this form of labor because it is inexpensive and something they did not have to claim in taxes by paying them illegitimately. Some claim that illegal immigrants are taking advantage of our social services paid for by taxes like schooling and medicine.
July 20, 2012, marks a day of mourning and injustice. Across the country, teary-eyed Americans, overwhelmed with shock and despair, read the headlines that covered every media outlet. The mere mention of the name “James Holmes” caused people to shudder in horror. How could one man be so incredibly malicious and destructive? Detailed plans of his mass murder were written down, and they revealed his malevolent heart. It is impossible to comprehend the amount of malice and hostility Holmes contained in his sinister soul.
As a literal deathbed revelation, William Wilson begins the short story by informing the readers about the end of his own personal struggle by introducing and immediately acknowledging his guilt and inevitable death, directly foreshadowing the protagonist’s eventual downward spiral into vice. The exhortative and confession-like nature of the opening piece stems from the liberal use of the first person pronoun “I”, combined with legal and crime related jargon such as, “ crime”, “guilt”, and “victim” found on page 1. Poe infuses this meticulous word choice into the concretization of abstract ideas where the protagonist’s “virtue dropped bodily as a mantle” (Poe 1), leading him to cloak his “nakedness in triple guilt” (Poe 1). In these two examples, not only are virtue and guilt transformed into physical clothing that can be worn by the narrator, but the reader is also introduced to the protagonist’s propensity to externalize the internal, hinting at the inevitable conclusion and revelation that the second William Wilson is not truly a physical being, but the manifestation of something
This historical investigation will be looking at the police investigation of the serial killer Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper is infamously known around the world as a serial killer who was never caught in 1888, Whitechapel, London. While these murders took place more than 100 years ago, new theories on the possible identity of the murderer are arising and the question of his identity still remains a mystery. Much of the original evidence of the case has been lost and facts have been altered with time. This investigation will be analyzing the effect letters and sensational journalism tampered with the Jack the Ripper case. A newspaper article will also be analyzed and the part of sensationalized journalism in the case will be discussed. The two primary sources will be the “Dear Boss” letter provided by the book The Diary of Jack the Ripper narrative by Shirley Harrison. Whilst analyzing this letter, this investigation will also be analyzing a news report during that time period, an excerpt from the New York Times on September 9, 1888. Along with these two sources other letters and reports will be considered but not referred to directly. This investigation does not seek to solve the case of Jack the Ripper but rather to analyze the significance of the public and media.
The dark, ominous alleyways of London’s East End divulge a very gruesome history of women “ripped up like [pigs] in a market” (Grose). The area, once littered with the torn up remains of brutally murdered prostitutes, looms over the city as symbol for the story of one of the most notorious serial killers: Jack the Ripper. The case enthralls and captivates people’s minds even today, over 100 years later (BBC). This begs the question of how serial killers become part of history, an answer found in extensive media coverage. Time Magazine describes the phenomena Jack the Ripper left behind as a “rich legacy” and a “multi-million dollar industry,” eerily analogous to today’s coverage of serial killings (Grose). Jack the Ripper’s case provides an early example of the issues that arose with the advent of the serial killer—issues that still exist. The press has a unique role to play in serial killer investigations, but the line between helping and hurting society is often blurred. While the press has a responsibility to inform society of such serial killings in order to keep them informed and safe, publishing killer communiqués crosses ethical boundaries concerning the investigations and society.
While the bodies pile up in what we call our Nation's Backyard, the rest of the country chooses to deny the facts and to remain blind to the truth. The gruesome statistics, and tales of violence in "The Murder of Thirty of My Neighbors" by Jim Myers has the ability to force just about anyone into understanding the severity of the situation the residents of service area 109, also known as eastern Capitol Hill, are facing. It isn't often that people see or hear about this violent world, partly because they would rather not deal with it and also because the politicians who have the power to do something about it are the ones helping to keep the rest of society ignorant. That is why it is important for someone like Myers to step in and invade the serenity of these ignorant lives and prove that violence and murder are the reality for many people living in America. Myers speaks of the cold-blooded murders, drive-by shootings, robberies, and hate infested streets he sees every day in the place he calls home. He uses these violent facts, blunt statements, and sometimes even sarcasm to convey the seriousness of this matter as well as the reality he and his neighbors have come to accept as normal.
When most people hear “First Aid” they think of the little white box with the red logo on it containing Band-Aids, gauze, tape, bug bite sticks, and antibiotic cream. However Webster’s Dictionary defines first aid as “the emergency care or treatment given to an ill or injured person before regular medical aid can be obtained”. That being said “First Aid” is not to be confused with “First Responder” whom is a trained paramedic who is able to administer CPR, medication, perform intubation, IV fluids, and a multitude of other medical tasks that any bystander or even a CPR certified civilian is unable to perform.