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Edward Pierce

Decent Essays

In Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery, gentleman burglar Edward Pierce organizes a gold heist. He has the opportunity and means to commit the crime, but his motive is never explicitly revealed. Crichton indicates that Pierce’s motive sprouts not from greed nor necessity. Instead, Pierce commits the crime because he is obsessed with manipulating other people. Pierce uses fear to get people to bend to his will. He walks through slums with self assurance, an attitude that makes the other criminals afraid of him (Crichton 35). He also tells a gruesome story about buffalo hunting in order to scare off Emily Trent (64-5). The story is unnecessary to achieving his plan, but the Trents’ emotions come under his power. Furthermore, Pierce

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