An Analysis Of Julia Shelley's ' The Crucible '

Holmes had been born into a wealthy New Hampshire family and was given the name Herman Webster Mudgett (America’s Serial Killers). “If Mudgett or his brother or sister were bad, their strict Methodist parents sent them to the attic for a full day without speaking or eating,. Mudgett’s father was especially abusive after he’d been drinking - which was often” (Spikol). However, his father was a wealthy and respected citizen and had been the local postmaster for nearly twenty five years (Taylor). It is surprising an important member of the community was a child abuser. The abuse of his father may be one of the

    During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, H.H. Holmes was one of the first serial killers of America. Holmes would lure his victims into his building which he transformed into his “murder castle.” First he would manipulate his victims by coming off as a

He had several stores and a restaurant in the building. The third floor had rooms and offices to rent and it contained Holmes’s bedroom but it was the 2nd floor that had the horrible secret of the building. This floor had 35 rooms all designed as killing chambers, his victims would get caught up in this maze where doors lead nowhere and once they would turn a corner Holmes would surprise them and eventually kill them. Now the basement was worst of them all he had a chute that led down there so he could easily dispose of the bodies, it was like a medieval torture chamber, acid vats, quick lime pits and crematorium and this is where he would clean his victim’s bones and mount them and sell them to local universities and medical schools. Now, I have heard of some of the things that serial killers have done but this takes the cake, it made my stomach turn.

To clarify, Henry Howard Holmes known as H. H. Holmes was America’s first serial killer. As a child, Holmes was terrified of the doctor, however a few bullies from his school forced him to touch the real skeleton in their doctor’s office which started his obsession with human anatomy. When Holmes was a teenager he interned at his local doctor’s office and later went to Michigan State for a medical degree and became a skilled doctor. Holmes took out fake insurance policies on the bodies he used in medical school after pouring acid on their face so they were unrecognizable in order to afford college. In 1889 Holmes designed and built a hotel to assist his murders.

Holmes Murder Castle was the innovative creation that allowed him to lure in unexpecting visitors to the fair. It consisted of: endless hallways, a windowless third floor, a torture chamber along with a dissecting room in the basement, and so many other ruthless creations. H.H. Holmes Murder Castle is known to be a reflection of his own distorted mind. Which in fact it was given the extensive thought and trouble he went through to make it a reality.

After leaving Chicago, Holmes would appear next in Fort Worth, Texas. He had inherited the property of two railroad heiress sisters, both of whom he murdered (Murderpedia Editors n.d.). During his time in Texas, he stole two horses and shipped them to St. Louis. He sold both, making a decent sum of money; however, he was arrested for this scam and sent to jail in July of 1894. During his time in jail, he formulated a new insurance swindle with his cellmate, Marion Hedgepeth. Holmes planned to take out an insurance policy for ten-thousand dollars, fake his death, and then provide Marion with five-hundred dollars in exchange for a lawyer who could help him if there were any problems. He attempted this plan once he was released on bail, but the

It is while in jail Holmes confided in a cellmate by the name of Marion Hedgepeth of the plan to defraud the insurance company. Hedgepeth agreed to give Holmes the contact information of a crooked attorney in turn for $500 dollars, promised to be paid once Holmes received the insurance payoff. It was several weeks after this event before Holmes and Pitezel arrived in Philadelphia, where they rented a storefront and posed as a patent dealer. It is here where Holmes murdered Pitezel with chloroform, burning his face, and setting the building on fire in an attempt to make it appear like a chemical laboratory accident. Once the body was discovered, it had to be positively identified by a family member in order for the insurance company to pay the

In 1890 the proprietress of the drugstore, an elderly widow, mysteriously disappeared. Holmes quickly took over the business, and began selling patent medicines of his own invention by mail order, including fake "cures" for alcoholism. [4] Holmes eventually amassed a nice fortune. Holmes soon wed Myrta Z. Belknap, without even bothering to divorce his first wife. Myrta soon bare foot and pregnant, left him within a year, and moved in with her parents.

He had two children, one son and one daughter. He went out of sight for six years after abandoning Clara and his son. He would always somehow come up with some con as to where he was and what he was doing during the time of his victims' deaths. The police had always questioned him, but had never really pinned anything on him. No one wanted to believe that Holmes was an evil master mind. He was so handsome and charismatic. His tall stature and piercing blue eyes made women often swoon at the sight of him. He could also talk anyone into anything at the sound of his voice and the medical, knowledgeable jargon he used. He even got an old lady to give him her husbands pharmacy after his death sometime after he arrived to Chicago. Other sources said that he killed her and inherited the pharmacy without anyone knowing what happened. Either way the old woman should have been happy that such a noble man was running her pharmacy. He was always the perfect assistant, making sure that her money was going towards helping the company in any way. He would even meet up with venders, creating a stable environment for her and her dying husband. He eventually killed her but when others would ask he stated that she had moved to California, but had no forwarding address (Taylor, Troy).

“After the fair he intended to burn the building to collect the insurance and, as a happy dividend, destroy whatever surplus “material” might remain in its hidden storage chambers, although ideally, given other disposal measures available to him, the building by then would contain nothing of an incriminating nature” (85). This allows the reader into the mind of Holmes and create an understanding that Holmes had no interest in the innocent people that were going to be hurt because of him. Assuming the role of architect once more, Holmes hired carpenters, in which they started remodeling the second and third floors of his building. Once again Holmes’s method of segregating tasks and firing workers proved successful. Holmes had already used this method of firing workers by claiming that they had done an inferior job, and his true intention succeeded since Holmes did not pay the workers for the job they

Many times Holmes was able to get what he wanted by what he told the many women in his life. He told lies to women for them to leave their husbands and convinced men to take out life insurance in Holmes’ name. He did all of this to increase his ability to move forward with his idea of his dream building. He was able to make people to place their trust in him. Julia Conner was one of the many women who put her trust in holmes and “reached for his hand” to let Holmes know that she had full trust in him (Larson 148).

Over the course of Part 2, he murders three women (two of which were his lovers with one being pregnant), and married a childhood love interest in order to obtain more money. As residents begin questioning him and private detectives look into Holmes’ actions, has begun to become paranoid of whether or not he will be caught by the police, but is determined to stay for the pleasure of what the World Fair will bring him. In my earlier analysis, I mentioned how Homes might have been capable of love which could prevent him from murdering the ones he loves; I was definitely wrong. As stated above, because he murdered two of his partners for his enjoyment, it

Designed as though it were inspired from an Edgar Allan Poe tale, the castle contained a Labyrinth of secret passageways, false partitions, trap doors, windowless rooms, stairs that led to nowhere, and a concealed greased chute for dumping bodies that led directly to the basement. This three story house of horrors, however, was guised as an ordinary commercial space. Innocent enough was the third floor of the castle which was divided between apartment rentals, offices, and Holmes’ own living accommodations. And, like the unassuming third story, the ground floor was complete with retail spaces that offered blacksmith services, a jewelry store, barbershop, pharmacy, and restaurant. However, it was the second story for which Holmes had advertised

Another detective LeStrade with Scotland Yard (London’s investigative police) came to Sherlock & Watson’s apartment at 221b Baker Street very nervous relaying a crime of how a ghastly looking bride was shooting at people on the street from her balcony and then later shot herself in the mouth falling backward. The same woman, Emilia Ricoletti appeared later that evening (her wedding anniversary),

Externally, Holmes’ engrossingly faces the constant conflict amongst his countless profession undertakings. He constantly takes charge in various murder mysteries, missing persons, and he even involves himself with conspiracy theories against genetic modifications and hallucinatory anti-personnel chemical warfare. Internally, Holmes’ engages in conflicts between himself. Furthermore, the conflict arises from both his prominent eccentricity in his occupation causing other’s opinions of him to diminish, but he also suffers from a drug dependency. Holmes’ views his stimulant drug addiction as a necessity as heroin, cigarettes, and even cocaine increase his productivity while simultaneously reducing his anxious consciousness.