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'Art of Murder' Creative Summative Planning - Coggle Diagram
'Art of Murder'
Creative Summative Planning
Setting
Closed community
countryside/rural setting as it abides to the Milieu (Auden)
"the closely knit geographical group"
"the more Eden-like it is, the greater the contradiction of murder"
closed community used in
'The Honjin Murders'
"Countryside is a condensed reality, in which people in various positions in the hierarchical structure are visible, and the severe system of dominance and subordination is clearly felt." (Nakagawa, p.93)
Rural society as "a breeding ground of violence and crime that is ruled by a distinct logic, as compared to that of the city." (Kawana)
Rural setting that depicts both
Western and Japanese tropes
Descent to the primitive / regression of society
Shows all classes through the feudal system
Inclusion of a curse?
used in
'The Honjin Murders'
and
'The Hound of the Baskervilles'
Era / period set post-1940s but depicted through Gothic language
Plot
A murder has been committed in a closed community in rural USA?
Valerie (detective) arrives at the town/village after reading a report about it in the news - have this report being the introduction to the piece?
used in
'Murders in the Rue Morgue'
and
'The Hound of the Baskervilles'
The murder uncovers more mystery within the community (will only be hinted in for this piece)
'rottenness' of the community similar to
'Hurricane Season'
and the seemingly corrupt state of the area
Structure
Murder has occurred, written similar to
the beginning of
'In Cold Blood'
Introduction of the Detective
Detective Arrives at
the Crime Scene
meets some of the neighbours / locals
Shift in POV
Introduction of the Murderers
Characters
The Detective
Similar to
Kindaichi
Outsider to the closed community
Appears after the murder has been committed
Is the 'city' detective
"Whereas city mysteries are about strangers with strange motives that a detective must discover so he or she can find the culprit, Kindaichi starts with the power relations in rural communities to draw an entire picture of a structure that leads to murders." (Nakagawa, p.98)
Homosocial detective?
Has a Watson-esque figure
Uses a companion to assist in the case
Female Detective
Marlowe
inspired detective in regard to ignoring the male-equivalent of the
femme fatale
Valerie Bennett
The Victims
Kenneth Rutledge
husband
provides the household income
active participator in community
Cynthia Rutledge
housewife
barely seen outside of the neighbourhood
had a secret relationship outside
of the marriage
The Murderers
Lawrence Randall
mind behind the killings
psychopathic
Rodney Bowers
is the one who kills the couple
is the 'Guy' with Lawrence as the 'Bruno'
manipulated by Lawrence to commit the murders
has a physical deformity
Point of View
Multiple perspective like in
'Strangers On A Train'
All written in third person omniscient
Perspectives of the detective and
the murderer(s)
The Crime
Motive
Money - initially meant to be a robbery but
escalated to murder.
Have motivation inconspicuous
“Motivation is rarely clear-cut in Highsmith. In fact, perhaps the most fascinating mystery in each of her novels is about the personalities of the characters she creates" (Nicol, 2015, p.98).
Method
'In Cold Blood'
style with being tied up
then shot
first scene is the reader seeing the crime scene
The Victims
Well-respected couple of the community
no children, but have had miscarriages/failed pregnancies
Husband known for his generosity, helpful to the community
Wife a domestic housewife, not really seen
away from the household
Themes!!!
Duality
'Jekyll and Hyde'
aspect conveyed through differences between the victims and murderers
victims respected within the community versus outcast/alienated murderers
animalistic depiction of the murder versus the civilised descriptions of the victims
'Strangers On A Train'
homosocial versus homosexual
dynamic between the killers being homosexual?
dynamic between detective and assistant being homosocial
contrast between the detective and the locals
Appearances
Behaviour
Dialect/Speech
Criminality
Lombroso's
'criminal anthropology'
physical deformity with one of the murderers?
community outcasting those who are "different"
connection to the
degeneration theory
concept of
fatalism
psychological aspects of the killers