W4 - His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet PDF

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W4 – Crime Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project

Masculinity Toxic, exaggerated Need to appear powerful, be violent Hegemonic masculinity, dominant form – what a man has to be, conventional Intelligence and education – Roderick’s dad does not have the ability to talk his way through issues, is just physical while Roddy’s smart, cannot have high aspirations School teacher – wants Roddy to do well, go further in life, his hands described as soft and not used to work (definition of manliness), Roddy’s dad deems him physically feminine and not a real man Sexual violence – whether Lachlan and Jetta’s was consensual, and of Roddy’s mother and Lachlan (he makes a comment referring he has to have something since she’s gone – plus Roddy’s father surprised that she became pregnant for the 4th time) Jetta sleeps in the same bed as her father (Jetta also acts as a mirror to Flora) Kenny Smokes – 6 daughters but wouldn’t trade any for a son… unusual

Representation of women Only how Roddy views them, to what extent can you trust his perspective, gendered masculine His view on the killing of Flora in comparison to medical reports of her death are very different – it seemed a lot more violent There is the account of the trial and interviews in the beginning that offer differing perspectives Female voice is somewhat absent Jetta is pushed to the background even though she does all the work at home, takes care of everyone

Depictions of religious faith/Calvinism Calvinism, fatalism, everything that happens is planned, someone’s else’s choice, predestination, natural force of things, have visions but unable to change anything Females and witchcraft, spiritualism – only source of power for women, but at the same time called deviant if they exercise this power of having a voice Roddy’s dad is a devout Christian, minister approves of him but is happy leaving Roddy to die for his lack of church understanding and said his mother died for his sins, happy for him to leave, never helps, cruel Religious belief mirrors the social class system

Criminal voice dominant, victim’s absent Writing style: organized in a logical, real way, to be portrayed in a historically accurate way (despite being fiction), forces us to challenge our perception – what we believe or think Urban/rural setting: feel close to the community, different, criminologist trying to blame the family traits (talking about them living like savages in the rural community instead of in a sophisticated city) Physical violence in Roderick’s childhood influence his ability to administer violence so easily against others? Possible causes of criminality, kills the sheep (mercy killing) but saves the deer so it isn’t pointlessly mounted on someone’s wall Class system: the strangeness of Roddy and father going to see the factor, not meant to happen it appears Unqualified Munro in the trial, he has practical experience, but what makes one qualified, who has the power to make these judgements Was Roddy rational? Other perspectives go against this.

Burnet: Madness as a social construct Influence of Pierre Riviere Questions of sanity never resolved Origins of Criminology Thomson Hereditary nature of crime, after Darwinism, evolution vs. interbreeding leading to the opposite and crime Removing responsibility from the criminal class as they are born into it Criminal class shouldn’t be allowed to breed and should be treated as livestock, but because they are born like this, they cannot be held responsible for their actions, and would be wrong to send them to death

Discourses surrounding the central figure, competing for their interpretation of the truth Lachlan is going to die, but in Roddy’s mind it is just for him to kill him Are we acting with free will or not Death of the author Superstitions of the Highland, predestinations Reassess the truthfulness of Roddy’s account, medical reports show he raped Flora, he is not everything the reader thought he was

Sympathy, empathy towards Roddy until we realize what he actually did, who to root for, Lachlan didn’t do anything that wrong… Inevitability… Things can’t be any other way...