The Mind Behind the Crime “Why did you do it?” It is the ultimate question asked when confronting a guilty criminal. However, this question usually remains unanswered and up to interpretation. Committing the “crime of the century” takes a manipulative plan along with a clear motive. In Michael Crichton’s novel The Great Train Robbery, respectable gentleman Edward Pierce, was the mastermind behind the robbery in Victorian England so he could take pride for his successful schemes. With wealth that predated the renown robbery, Pierce gathered a compelling team for his dirty work. He only accepted the elite criminals, as he commanded,“Tell him the next topping and he’s over the side, or he’s not Clean Willy” (Crichton 38). Pierce broke a man out of prison to fulfill his impeccable team along with his goals of endless satisfaction. As the mind behind the crime, Pierce gave duties to his ‘dream team’ allowing him to watch his plan fall into position. Agar, whom Pierce was most dependent upon, was directed strict orders. There was a moment when Agar asked a question about the timing of an arrangement, and Pierce replied, “When I inform you,” (24). Since Pierce conceived the devious plot, he commanded everyone orders as if he was …show more content…
It was a priority to stay one step ahead of everybody else. Pierce would leave a room in mid-conversation and, “grin at Agar’s perplexed look” (172). Being in control aroused amusement within Pierce. In dealing with people he was not as comfortable with, he would even keep his identity a secret. Burgess, the train guard, asked Pierce, “Is your name Coolidge then? You said Simms…” (197). In order to cover his tracks and keep his name out of the air, Pierce made sure he covered himself on all angles. In essence, Pierce always put himself over the group by never letting anybody know his true
Edward Pierce was also an intelligent man and knew Agar would give him away. (Crichton page 250) So he made extensive and high risk plans accounting for this betrayal. Pierce complied with everything the police asked of him by giving vague answers, only giving the location of the money after his henchman, Barlow, had gotten to it first. His greatest act was not only keeping the money from being taken away but was escaping his captors and never being heard from again. (Crichton 265)
In The Great Train Robbery, Edward Pierce is the most credible because of his intelligence and knowledge of all the social classes in London. Pierce is able to charm the wealthy into finding out information of the trains and the location of the keys. Pierce is the mastermind of the entire robbery and makes his plan patiently and is able to change them when setbacks happen. Pierce is able to trick Chokee Bill, a pawnbroker, into telling the authorities that he is heading to Greenwich when he is really staying in London. Throughout the robbery and even in his arrest he is able to solve and get through every difficulty. “It is presumed that this whore was actually the actress Miss Miriam, and that in kissing Pierce she passed him the key to the
This essay will give an in depth understanding of the social views towards Jack the Ripper in the 1880s in London, East End. Also, the living conditions of East End and the different kind of people that were situated there in the late 1880s. Throughout the essay a brief introduction of the main suspect, Jack the Ripper will be discussed and the potential reasons of the murders. The main 5 victims who suffered from the wrath of Jack the Ripper will also be discussed in detail and the possible reasons why they were chosen to be the victims from many. In the essay the other suspected victims will also be touched upon.
Thesis Statement: A research paper of the mysterious and famous 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper and how it is that the legend came to be.
The crime is defined as the law-breaking cruel action committed by the criminals. These criminals usually have some deep trauma deep in their heart and the sudden bursting of all the negative sentiments will result in very devastating consequences of hurting other human beings. This essay will mainly compare Perry Smith in In Cold Blood and Misfit in A Good Man is hard to find, which is both the main character and the main criminal in the two crime stories. They have a lot of things in common as a criminal with minor differences. They a are both cynical to the society; They have both found themselves isolated from the society.
Throughout the years, the association between a criminal offense and a criminal have become more relevant. Although there are many theories that try to illustrate the concept of why crimes happen, no theory has a profound influence of understanding an individual’s nature, relationship, development, and a society itself (Coleman & Ganong, 2014). To further explain, “theories of crime are defined in relation to modernity, spanning their development from the enlightenment to the present, with the advent of postmodernism” (Miller, 2012, p. 1798). In other words, theories of crime are an approach to understanding an individuals behaviour and actions in their environment, society, and themselves that may lead to crime. Nevertheless, within this paper, it will be comparing the case of
The Dunbar Robbery is one of the biggest robberies in American history where 18.6million dollars were stolen. A armored car driver named Allan Pace packed that much money into a U-Haul. They also ambushed each guard that were all taking a break at 00:30. Then after they got the money they tried to conceal there new found fortune the had to modify a whole bundle of things. But when one of them took a wad of it in the original strap to a real estate broker. The broker took the case to the police and he then leaked their name to the police. So when they were caught and less than half the money was recoverd and 14$ million was still accounted for and that’s the mystery. The Stonehedge is one of the most mysterious things we have ever encountered.
In Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery, Edward Pierce is able to play the roles of various socioeconomic backgrounds. Crichton never clearly lays down a reason for the motive for the train robbery but Edward’s role playing establishes one of exhibitionism. This motive is repeated throughout the novel in his display of ostentatious actions and mannerisms, using the public reaction to satiate his ego. Through Pierce’s theatrics, the motive is clearly presented in a crime shocking to the time.
Jack the Ripper was one of the most famous and renowned killers in history. Even though he was not the first serial killer, he was the first killer to strike on a metropolis setting. Jack the Ripper was in his prime at a time when the media had a strong control over society and society as a whole was becoming much more literate. Jack started his killing campaign at a time of political controversy between the liberals and social reformers along with the Irish Home rule partisans. The reports of Jack the Ripper were collected and reported by the police, but then the different newspapers with their political influences slightly distorted the stories to give them their own effect. It has been more the one hundred years since the last murder
Crime is as old as humanity itself, and the first crime committed by man according to Christianity is that of Cain killing Abel. Throughout the recorded history, the human past is significantly littered with criminal activities including mass murder, wars, and genocides. Moreover, beginning the 18th century, historians have pointed at new forms of crimes that target specific groups of people like a particular ethnicity or family (Cassell, Mitchell, and Edwards, pp. 59–103). Thus, in his book “The Hound of Baskervilles,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle attempts to exploit the theme of crime through the application of the modern perspective of crime investigation and prevention by enlisting the expertise of crime detectives. From “The Hound of Baskervilles,” it is evident that the war against crime can only be won when there is a combination of public cooperation and keen analysis of evidence by the crime detection unit (Bunker, pp. 129–137).
Chapter 1 traces the rise of pastoral power in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and charts the rise of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes as a literary embodiment this power. It traces briefly the changes in crime fiction from the Newgate stories, through the Sensation, Gothic, and stories where detectives began to appear as supporting characters, leading to the rise of the detective as the protagonist appearing in serialized form in short stories and the novel. It also briefly looks at the concurrent transformations in law enforcement and policing systems, as well as in changes in population and the city—all of which contributed to the rise of Sherlock Holmes as a master inciter and manager of spontaneous confessions, meant to represent
When feelings of subordination and powerlessness arise, people may turn to devising plans in order to defy their superiors and attempt to break their feelings of importance. Pierce was a high class man who was respected in society, but in most times and places, a great respect is openly shown towards members who are in positions of power, such as the police and rulers. With feelings of insubordination when compared to the word of policeman that was always believed, Pierce’s unruliness brewed inside of him until he unleashed his defiance. Listening to those of the wealthy class brag about their riches annoyed Pierce to a point at which he wanted to prove his intelligence and defy the unthinkable in society. Robbing the bank was Pierce’s
The fourth suggestion extends Sutherland 's idea of figuring out how to distinguish what is gained through correspondence with private others that empowers criminal movement. He depicts how through this learning procedure an individual additions not just the abilities and systems required to carry out the wrongdoing, additionally the "thought processes, drives, justifications, and states of mind" that go with the conduct. Only figuring out how to carry out a wrongdoing is not make alone for one
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam advised to his people that “small aim is a crime; have a great aim,” yet in Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery, character Edward Pierce’s greatest aim ironically became known in London as “the crime of the century.” Pierce’s intricate and advanced planning in his train robbery helped him gain a notorious reputation in England. With underlying implications throughout his novel, Michael Crichton insinuates that the true motive of Pierce is the desire for notoriety throughout England and not the acquisition of wealth collected from his robbery.
From the end of the eighteenth century to the start of the nineteenth century, London was a city with a high wrongdoing rate. From 1745 to 1820, there were 115,000 individuals who made their living by theft, prostitution, cheat and other criminal acts. It is terrible when we realize that the aggregate populace of London around then was only 960,000.