Primary Motivator For The Murder example essay topic

Slowly evolving from the days of 'black and white, wrong and right' of the 40's and 50's; our society has become filled with vast notions and explanations for just why a person would act in a way seen as 'evil. ' Whether it be via psychological analysis or simply unjustifiable motivations, we as a culture struggle to understand. Just as people in the renaissance age convinced themselves the world was square, people today have also been convinced by our own inflated ego and perceived self-superiority of knowledge in the ever present struggle to generate a reason for everything. This is, simply put, a modern day display of human ignorance.

Perhaps not simply ignorance but rather the choice to be consumed by other options rather than the indelible truth: whether born or learned, human beings can and will have ill willed tendencies. This is one fact society will always deny and erect shields against; shields such as 'mental abnormality' and 'unjustifiable motives,' anything to make sense out of chaos. Seems as though the biggest present day trend to explain evil actions is to decipher certain psychological aspects of one in suspect and use these to fabricate reason. Such a mental explanation commonly used in today's courts is the notion of temporary insanity.

This chronic illness seems to have stricken many defendants today, according to their lawyers. However, I find it difficult to comprehend the justification of actions committed while under the duress of emotional arousal. It is a human instinct and trait to become emotionally aroused in certain situation; especially situations such as violent acts or thoughts, situations with which temporary insanity is most typically related. Countless persons in the past have been prosecuted for crimes they committed born out of emotion, so today we as a people have just had a communal epifiny in realizing that people might just not think how they normally would if they are provoked or otherwise emotionally aroused? Why treat others differently today for the same exact circumstances people were put to death for no less than a few decades ago? For instance, in the short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been' by Joyce Carol Oates, Arnold Friend, a young man on a mission to have intimate relations with a girl named Connie by trying to lure her out of her house, threatens her in an effort to pressure her to walk out to him.

Arnold says to the girl he's trying to seduce, "Soon as you touch the phone I don't need to keep my promise [to stay outside], and can come inside. You won't want that" (Oates 286). This is clearly abnormal behavior under any circumstance, making threats against a person to force them to do what the individual wishes. Today's overly rational society would most likely claim that Arnold was simply mentally overcome by his fixation on Connie and for this he made threats, threats he would not normally make in his normal state of mind.

A lawyer could possibly even claim temporary insanity for Arnold, insanity sprung by his desire for Connie and her not complying with his wishes. All of these aside, which could indeed be valid, there is one pertinent fact present in this situation. Arnold did what he did for himself, and to fulfill his fantasies. He was being human, the side of humans that society refuses to accept. A side that cares not about people's feelings nor the repercussions of their actions, but rather about gratification and realizing wants and needs: basic human instinct. Different than psychological motivations, actual motivations are circumstances surrounding the situation that send the actual psychological reactions into motion.

A motive, while commonly providing a decent blanket of defense for a wrongdoer, only provides the circumstance by which the person was provoked or felt inclined to commit ill willed actions. The person first, prior to the entire situation, must be able and willing to fulfill thoughts created by a circumstance, motives. It is clearly seen that motives are simply an attempt to give rhyme and reason to why a person acted a certain way when in the first place, the person must have been able and willing in the first place to commit such actions, regardless of any motives. For example, in the 'Tell Tale Heart' by Edgar Allen Poe, an unsaid sexed murder kills an older man and buries his remains under the floorboards of his home. The apparent motivation for this murder was an eye of the deceased that upset the murder, so much so for him / her to take action upon it and consequently the old man. This motivation, while ridiculous, still is the primary motivator for the murder.

It is a prime example of how motives act not as reason and motivators but rather they are simply triggers, waiting to unlock or release a part of a person. The murderer in this story, while obviously mentally deranged in some way, nonetheless still displayed signs of remorse, which in turn illustrates he / she is conscience of knowing right from wrong. He / she knew what they did was wrong thus he / she took extensive measurements to conceal the body, which he / she buried under the floorboard to keep it out of sight from inquiring minds, and hid any evidence that the murder took place. "If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body" (Poe 84). The murderer uses the term "wise" in this passage, indicating his perceived intelligence born out of these deceitful precautions he / she took to hide any evidence of the murder, thus indicating rationality. It was the part of him / her that was unleashed by the trigger, the eye, which had no sense of rational thoughts.

This is where temporary insanity is born from however this is not what this can be defined as. This can simply be defined as the truth of human behavior: truth being humans hold in them some forms of natural evil, from birth to death. As stated in the bible, all persons commit sins, and we all must repent these sins. "For all have sinned and fall short to the glory of god" (Romans 3: 23). There is not one perfect human being in our world, realistically speaking. Society conditions us to repent these sins, regardless of religion.

We come into this world inexperienced and naive, however we still have pre-programmed abilities, thoughts, and ideas. If you place infant on a step, he / she will instinctively back away. Of course this is simply a survival trait but it displays one very important concept: we are born more than just a blank slate for minds. No person on this earth proclaims to have been born to live a sin free life, so is it so hard to believe the opposite of this, that not one person is perfect? We all have impure thoughts and motives; it is simply a matter of a situation possibly triggering these and our will power to resist during those times.