Violence and crime happens all around us, everyday, for many different reasons. Sometimes violence occurs spontaneously in the heat of the moment, other times it is well planned and thought out, and occasionally violence is used to make a statement. In the novels The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, and The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, violence is represented in different ways, but they share a common aspect. In both novels, violence is portrayed as a way to get control and power over a situation.
In The Talented Mr. Ripley, the first murder that occurs is the murder of Dickie Greenleaf, the man who Tom Ripley was sent to bring back to America. This particular murder was sudden, but Tom admits that he had thought about it
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before, “[Tom] wanted to kill Dickie. It was not the first time he had thought of it.” (Highsmith, 95). This shows that although Tom had not shown any prior violent urges towards Dickie, the thought had crossed his mind. The more Tom thinks about it, the better the idea seems to him “He had just thought of something brilliant: he could become Dickie Greenleaf himself” (Highsmith, 96). By killing Dickie, Tom is able to impersonate him and gain control of the money, power, and lifestyle that he has always wanted. The fact that Tom first decided that he wanted to kill Dickie so he could impersonate him, and then he began to strategize how he would do it, shows that the act of killing Dickie was not spontaneous at all. This violence was planned and executed in a way that would get Tom everything he needed to become Dickie and be in control of his life. In The Big Sleep, detective Philip Marlowe heard gun shots and discovered that Arthur Geiger was killed. Geiger owned a book store that acted as a front for his pornography business. Marlowe discovered Geigner dead with Carmen Sternwood sitting on the floor “She was wearing a pair of long jade earrings. They were nice earrings and had probably cost a couple hundred dollars. She wasn’t wearing anything else.” (Chandler, 35). He notices that reason Carmen was naked was because Geigner had been taking pictures of her. Marlowe later concluded that the person who killed Geiger was a man named Owen Taylor, who was the Sternwood families chauffeur and was in love with Carmen. Once Taylor found out that Greiger was photographing Carmen naked, he came and shot him. Taylor did not want Greiger to have that power and control over Carmen with the provocative pictures of her. This violence was used to help protect the woman he loved, and keep control over Geigner’s pictures. In The Talented Mr.
Ripley, the second murder that takes place is the murder of Freddie Miles, a friend of Dickie’s. Tom kills Freddie so that he doesn’t expose the truth about what Tom had done killing Dickie in order to take over his life “he hadn’t wanted to kill him at all. It had been so unnecessary, Freddie and his stinking, filthy suspicions” (Highsmith,138). This murder is different than Tom’s first murder in that he hadn’t wanted to commit this murder, unlike Dickie’s murder which he had desperately wanted and planned out. Tom murdered Freddie solely for that purpose of maintaining control over his situation. He couldn’t have Freddie expose the truth about what Tom murdering Dickie, so he killed Freddie to keep him quiet, and maintain control. Tom admits how he hadn’t wanted to kill Freddie, “and thinking how sad, stupid, clumsy, dangerous, and unnecessary his death had been” (Highsmith, 138). Tom shows that he doesn’t enjoy violence, but if it will help him keep in control of his new life, and keep his secret from the world, then he has no problem doing whatever it takes. Even if that includes murdering anyone that stands in his way of his new luxurious …show more content…
life. In The Big Sleep, Marlowe finds Harry Jones and Casino talking in the insurance office, so he listens into their discussion. Casino, who works for Eddie Mars, is asking Jones for the address of his partner Agnes. He is suspicious of what Jones has been up to meeting with Marlowe, and questions what his true intentions are. He attempts to get Jones to reveal the location of where Agnes is and Jones is hesitant, but eventually he gives Casino an address, little does Casino know it’s not the correct one. After Jones gives Casino what he wants, Casino says that they are good, but Marlowe notices a change in Casino’s voice, “The purring voice was now as false as an usherette’s eyelashes and as slippery as a watermelon seed” (Chandler, 174). Next Casino poured Jones a drink, what Jones didn’t know was that the drink contained cyanide, which poisoned and killed him. Casino clearly manipulated Jones to give him the information he wanted so he could be in control, and he could have the upper hand and track Agnes down. Once Jones gave him the information, Casino had no use for him and didn’t want Jones to stand in his way, so he killed him. Casino treated Jones like he was disposable, he gave him what he wanted, and then he was done with him. Therefore, Casino used violence to be in control of the situation. Once he had the information he needed, it gave him the power and control he wanted. Casino shows no guilt about killing Jones, and it seems that he doesn’t care about other people as long as he gets what he wants. Later on in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Dickie’s friend Marge finds Dickie’s rings in a box in Tom’s room. Tom then gets paranoid that Marge has figured out that he killed Dickie and contemplates killing Marge and dumping her in the canal to dispose of her body. He begins to think of a possible story for her death “she had evidently slipped, and thinking she could surely swim back to the steps, he hadn’t jumped in or shouted for help” (Highsmith, 237). This is another example of how Tom is continuously paranoid about making sure that no one figures out the truth about what he has done to Dickie. He is constantly worried about maintaining control of the lies and the new life he has created for himself. If he suspects that someone figures it out or is in the process of figuring it out, he has no problem resorting to violence to maintain the power and control he has on the situation, for that is the most important thing to Tom. Towards the end of The Big Sleep, Marlowe discovered the truth about what happened to Vivian Sternwoods’ missing husband Rusty Regan.
Marlow discovers that Carmen Sternwood shot Rusty after he had rejected her, and Vivian helped dispose of his body to protect her sister. Throughout the novel we see Carmen as innocent, and at times as the damsel in distress, but yet that act that she puts on disappears when she doesn’t get what she wants. Marlowe recalls how a couple of nights before Carmen tried to seduce him, “She was in my bed —naked. I threw her out on her ear. I guess maybe Regan did the same thing to her sometime. But you can’t do that to Carmen” (Chandler, 227). This also shows that men aren’t the only ones capable of violence, women such as Carmen are too. No matter the gender, violence can occur when a person is trying to have their power and control over others or a situation. Whether Carmen is mentally ill or has a medical condition, she shows no sign of guilt for what she has done. Carmen is trying to show that she has the power, no one rejects her and gets away with
it. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, Tom resorts to violence and murder as a way to maintain control over his situation, and keep Dickie’s luxurious life. Tom admits that he didn’t want to kill Dickie and Freddie, “He could say that he hadn’t wanted to do them, but he had done them. He hadn’t wanted to be a murderer” (Highsmith, 238). Despite the fact that Tom didn’t want to kill, he still resorted to violence to get him what he wanted, which was control. Therefore, in Chandler’s novel violence is looked down upon, but Highsmith’s novel does not portray that same message. In The Big Sleep, violence and murders occur one after another, and at no point does any character reflect on what they have done, or feel any guilt or remorse about the violence they have committed. Overall, both novels have different attitudes towards violence, but the role of violence is consistent in both. Violence helps the characters get power and maintain control over any situation.
Throughout the tale of time, thoughts of revenge have corrupted even the most innocent of minds. In Andre Dubus’ “Killings”, Matt Fowler is conflicted by two opposing forces: his own desire and his wife’s demand for the death of their son’s murderer. Through her manipulative words and her emotional meltdowns, Matt Fowler ultimately succumbs to his wife’s request and commits the gruesome act, which causes the audience to reevaluate the appropriateness and cost of vigilante justice.
"Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains!" is a memorable line of Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe in the 1946 adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep (The Big Sleep). That one quote encapsulates the presence of corruption, violence and even class distinction that is characteristic of film noir and the hard-boiled detective genre. The novel and the film both focus on Philip Marlowe, a private detective, during his investigative process. While the main plot remains the same, changes were made regarding the portrayals of characters, including Marlowe, likely in response to consideration of the audience and intent of the film. However, the setting was further developed through the
In his essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies” King attempts to bring understanding to the phenomenon of the horror film genre. He states “sanity becomes a matter of degree” eluding to the theory that sanity is relative and that all humans are relatively insane. Jack the Ripper and the Cleveland Torso Murderer were the examples of humans on one extreme of the spectrum of sanity; saints represent the other safe end of the sanity spectrum. He illustrates the thought that in order for human kind to stay functionally sane there needs to be some sort of outlet for our violent “mad” thoughts. In King’s view horror movies provide a stable outlet and mental relief for innate madness. King argues that his insanity/ant civilization emotions are ingrained
The Big Sleep (1946) is a film noir directed by Howard Hawks and was the first adaption from Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel of the same name. The film stars Humphrey Bogard as hard-boiled private detective, Philip Marlowe, and Lauren Bacall, as Vivian Rutledge. The title The Big Sleep is synonymous with death and the word “Big” refers to an everlasting sleep. While Sean Regan is found dead after subsequently disappearing, Marlow is always up throughout the night trying to track down leads. The dark mise-en-scene contributes to the gloomy and mysterious tone of the movie. Furthermore, the director never references the title in the film leaving the audience more perplexed. In the lecture, Gillian states that film noir is dependent on black and
Tom also has not done anything negative to society and thus shouldn’t be accused of any crimes. With this in mind, it connects with “A Lesson Before Dying” because Jefferson can also be in the same boat with Jefferson when being considered the mockingbird. Thirdly, during this part of the exposition, it is shown that Jefferson clearly did not kill Mr. Grope and is trying to make sure Mr. Grope tells the police when they come.
Monsters under the bed, drowning, and property damage are topics many people have nightmares about; nightmares about a dystopian future, on the other hand, are less common. Despite this, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984 display a nightmarish vision about a dystopian society in the near future. Fahrenheit 451 tells of Guy Montag’s experience in a society where books have become illegal and the population has become addicted to television. Meanwhile, 1984 deals with Winston Smith’s affairs in Oceania, a state controlled by the totalitarian regime known as the Party. This regime is supposedly headed by a man named Big Brother. By examining the dehumanized settings, as well as the themes of individuality and manipulation, it becomes clear that novels successfully warn of a nightmarish future.
During the course of our class we have encountered plenty of important topics and vital information that is essential to the field of the Criminal Justice system. Such as; Crime and justice including laws, Victimization and Criminal behavior, Laws, Police officers and Law enforcement and the criminal justice system in itself. These topics are daily situations yet individuals are oblivious to what's going on and that in it can be a major problem to the community. On that note this paper will express the ignorance and selfish values of twelve individuals by fully explaining the movie "Twelve Angry Men"
Dee, C. (2007). Serial killers, up close and personal: inside the world of torturers, psychopaths, and murderers. Berkeley, Calif: Ulysses Press.
Horror movies bring out the worst in us and for all the right reasons. King’s big idea suggests that by watching our mad, deranged role models slaughter one another, is actually keep us in line mentally. It allows us to stay sane and untroubled. Watching others do the dirty work gives us a sense of relief. Even though watching horror movies are filled with basic reasons of having fun, there is a deeper, psychological level of human emotions that is essential to our mental
Gary Watson shares the true story of the serial killer Robert Harris in his essay “Responsibility and the Limits of Evil”. This inclusive narrative shares of a man who was once a very sensible young boy who found himself on the south tier of Death Row in San Quentin Prison. Through this story, the reader learns first about Robert Harris’s crime and then about his upbringing. Both of which are stories that one could consider hard to read and even consider to be a true story. Those who knew Robert Harris claimed that he was a man that did not care about life. He did not care about himself nor anyone else. Each inmate and deputy, from the prision, who was questioned about
In both of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, “The Murders at the Rue Morgue” and “The Tell Tale Heart” as the reader I am able to identify possible roles of crime and comfort in each piece. As we discussed in lecture, crime can be breaking the law, an act against another that is hurtful and against human morals, punishable by law, victimizing and much more. In each reading we find our self deeply immersed in the story this gives me the reader a clearer understanding into each tragedy by having the opportunity to clearly define the role of crime and comfort in each reading.
On first inspection of Raymond Chandler's novel, The Big Sleep, the reader discovers that the story unravels quickly through the narrative voice of Philip Marlowe, the detective hired by the Sternwood family of Los Angeles to solve a mystery for them. The mystery concerns the General Sternwood's young daughter, and a one Mr. A. G. Geiger. Upon digging for the answer to this puzzle placed before Marlowe for a mere fee of $25 dollars a day plus expenses, Marlowe soon finds layers upon layers of mystifying events tangled in the already mysterious web of lies and deception concerning the Sternwood family, especially the two young daughters.
This paper is talking about “The Serial Killer,” but focus on Gary Ridgway- “The Green River Serial Killer.” He earned his nickname because the first five victims that he killed were found in the Green River. He was one of the most famous serial killers in the United States. Ridgway raped, chocked, killer and discarded 48 women, including many teenagers as young as 15 years old (Silja J, 2003). In Ridgway’s mind, he even believed that he was helping the police out, as he admitted in one interview with investigators (Silja J, 2003).
...ens should have more faith in the established institution’s ability to deliver justice over that of a vigilante serial killer, but for many, that is not the case. Second, Darkly Dreaming Dexter demonstrates that there is not as clear of a barrier between what is morally right and wrong as North American society sometimes believes, seeing as murder, which is usually regarded as undeniably wrong, can sometimes be justified and placed in the spectrum of acceptable behaviour. Blindly dividing actions up into right and wrong, then, is not only irresponsible, but also dangerous, as it can lead individuals to inappropriately oversimplify complex situations. Ultimately, then, a society that unwaveringly opposes all forms violence can be just as problematic as one that condones them.
”(250). We often see characters such as the Judge gaining and asserting his control and power by partaking in violent crimes and showing off enemy bodies for their gangs to acknowledge the power that they