Motivation of Crime in A Study in Scarlet

Zou Li

【Abstract】Stories of Sherlock Holmes is the classic leader of detective literature. At the present time， most readers and writers put their focus on Sherlock Holmes， and they ignore another important role—the criminals. Motivation of crime is an attractive subject. Studying the psychological motivation of crime in A Study in Scarlet has realistic meaning on modern society.

【Key words】crime； psychological motivation； A Study in Scarlet

1. Introduction

Stories of Sherlock Holmes is a very famous detective series which includes four medium length stories and fifty six short stories. The main character of these amazing works is Sherlock Holmes who calls himself a brilliant London-based “consulting detective”. He is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skillful use of astute observation， deductive reasoning and inference to solve difficult cases.

Motivation of crime refers to the inner cause or thinking activity which stimulates or urges offender commits a crime， it answers offender based on what psychological reasons of crime. So the function of motivation is launched crime， to explain the significance of perpetrator's psychological desires when he commits the crime. Researchers have developed a number of different theories to explain it. In this paper， the writer mainly analyzes psychological motivation. Psychological motivation includes the motivation in procession of wealth， sex and survival. As matters stand， people like to put their focus on Sherlock Holmes， they pay less attention to another important role-criminals. Criminals are the new research objects in this paper. This paper has selected two famous stories and illustrated them with the theory of motivation of crime.

2. A Study in Scarlet

2.1 Revenge and murder

Murder is a kind of traditional crime. It is also the typical representative crime of violent. The cause of the crime is very simple， for the property or hatred. The behavioral factors influencing murders come from the interpersonal impulse by the actor. They are under the direct or indirect effect of enforcement mechanism and accustomed to using violent means to pursuit the self interests. A considerable part of murder was caused by the victim， that is to say the victim stirred up dispute or hurt the criminal. All of these situation make the criminal believes himself is in danger， he should do something instead of waiting be a “victim”， the roles are change， violent is not violent any more， the massacre is happen.

The revenge motive for murder is the most common motivation of murder in the different historical stages. The essence of revenge comes from the actors extreme inner frustration and sense of crisis.

2.2 The motivation of crime

The Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary gives us a clear definition of revenge： something that you do in order to make somebody suffer because they have made you suffer. Jefferson Hope， the sinner of this case， was seeking revenge for the dead of his lover Lucy and Lucy's adoptive father. Jefferson swore to take his revenge on Drebber， Stangerson and other relevant people. The cause of the crime was very simple， for hatred. A considerable part of murder was caused by the victims. Victims （Drebber， Stangerson and so on） stirred up dispute or hurt the criminal （Jefferson）. The dead of Lucy and her adoptive father made Jefferson believed his life is in danger. He lost his love， and he could not help missing. Jefferson tended to do something instead of waiting be a “victim” and helped him to escape from the endless pain of heart breaking. The roles were changed， Drebber and Stangerson were not violent any more， they were the goal of poor sad Jefferson. The massacre was happened again with the same participants but in different position. The revenge motive for murder is the most common motivation of murder in the different historical stages， here， in A Study of Scarlet， it happens again. The essence of revenge comes from Jeffersons extreme inner frustration. As the saying goes “Every ill man has his ill day”， in the end Jefferson touched the grim reaper， his hands are stained with blood， so his death was the revenge of his own sin.

3. The causes of crime

3.1 The intrinsic cause

Because this case had a great number of plots， we can not sum up it in a few words. So I select a fragment which is representative to analyze the criminal motive. Perhaps it is not very comprehensive， but we can follow the guidance and explore further. For example：

When she（Lucy） had vanished from his sight， he（Jefferson） realized that a crisis had come in his life， and that neither silver speculations nor any other questions could ever be of such importance to him as this new and all-absorbing one. The love which had sprung up in his heart was not the sudden， changeable fancy of a boy， but rather the wild， fierce passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper. （Conan， 2007：154）

These sentences describe the deep emotion of Jefferson to Lucy. From it the readers can easy to know that how important was Lucy to Jefferson. In Jeffersons mind， they can set up a complete and perfect family. The stronger love he owned， the deeper hatred can produce. His future and hope was gone， He could not accept the reality because of his fear of future， so he chose to revenge， he need a way to vent. “the hunters mind was of a hard， unyielding nature， and the predominant idea of revenge had taken such complete possession of it that there was no room for any other emotion” （Conan， 2007：200）. These words comes from the objective statement of the story， it was the most direct proof for his next behavior. The murder was a redemption for Jefferson and his enemies. “Dont imagine that I intended to kill him in cold blood. It would only have been rigid justice if I had done so， but I could not bring myself to do it.” （Conan， 2007：216）. Jefferson was not a born bad man. His mental and soul has not been twisted before the loss of Lucy. As a Christian， the doctrine did not allow him to answer blows with blows， blood for blood. He wanted the God to judge them. He believed there existed justice upon the earth， they were ruled by fate.

3.2 The external cause

Besides the immanent cause of the murderer， Jefferson s tragedy is related to the external reason. For example：

It's enough that they were guilty of the death of two human beings-a father and daughter-and that they had， therefore， forfeited their own lives. … I determined that I should be judge， jury， and executioner all rolled into one. If you have any manhood in you， if you had been in my place. （Conan， 2007：209）

Lucy and her father were saved by a group of Mormon. Later， they became a member of Mormon Church. Mormon did not allow betrayers. This creed implied the later tragedy. Jefferson was the member who came from the outside world， and he has fresher thoughts than the other Mormons. Drebber and Stangerson were both from the different big families， from the perspective of power in Utah， they were distinctly superior. There was another big trouble， Lucys father was rich. If someone married with Lucy， he can get Lucys fathers property. Most people cant refuse the temptation， so did Dredder and Stangerson. When the plan of escape was failed， Jefferson lost them in a short time. Jefferson suffered the punishment by Mormon. Jefferson thought God would not redress the scales， and it was unfair. Someone must pay for the tragic fate of Lucys family. Jefferson needed the justice to relieve， so the blooding revenge was firing in his heart. If there was no court to provide justice， he played the role of judge at the cost of walking on a bloody road.

4. Conclusion

The saying “A bad life， a bad end” is not only for the criminal but also for the victim. If the person is upright and hones， no one will persecute him. Revenge is the evil， ruined the conscience of person. Some reader may consider Jefferson to be a murderer， but Jefferson held that he was just as much an officer of justice as Holmes. Could Drebber and Stangerson not be the criminals？ Although the time can covered up the chance to search for justice， but the person with sadness would use his own way to strike back. After revenge， what did the avenger get： relief or satisfaction？ Maybe none of them. However if you break the law， there must be a man that gives you corresponding punishment. AS the dead can never be brought back to life， Jefferson just took the same way to cheat himself. The noblest vengeance is to forgive. No matter how hateful the man is， do not let your enemy influences you. The best way to revenge is to be better than who you detest.

The researchers tended to chase the protector of justice， and Sherlock Holmes was one of their ideal objects. How about the criminals？ Good and bad are interactive. Comparing admiring detective's intelligence， it is better to explore the reason of crime. Even though it just a story or a literary work， it also has the practical significance for us because an excellent literary work always closely connected with the society. The roles of the novel have the personality of the times， which can reflect the social contradictions. Moreover， we can learn the valuable truth and use it to build better spiritual world.

Reference：

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[4]罗大华.犯罪心理学[M].北京：中国政法大学出版社，2007.

[5]Doyle，Arthur Conan.Sherlock Holmes[M/OL].http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sherlock_Holmes （accessed10/03/2014）.