7.7.2

Guilt & Punishment in Crime Texts

Test yourself

Guilt and Punishment in Crime Texts

In terms of the significance of guilt and punishment in Atonement and other set texts, you could discuss the following ideas.

Illustrative background for Absence of guilt - Browning's poemsIllustrative background for Absence of guilt - Browning's poems ?? "content

Absence of guilt - Browning's poems

  • Browning’s narrators (in The Laboratory, My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover) are chilling because they lack a conventional moral perspective. Each of them justifies their actions.
  • The speaker in The Laboratory is almost exultant about the pain and suffering she will cause. That we hear from them directly only adds to the power of the poems.
Illustrative background for Absence of guilt - Dr SheppardIllustrative background for Absence of guilt - Dr Sheppard ?? "content

Absence of guilt - Dr Sheppard

  • The lack of guilt Dr Sheppard shows in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a key point of the novel’s structure. The use of an unreliable first-person narrator tricks the readers into looking elsewhere for the identity of the murderer.
Illustrative background for Failings of legal/judicial processesIllustrative background for Failings of legal/judicial processes ?? "content

Failings of legal/judicial processes

  • In Oliver Twist, Dickens criticises his society as people are imprisoned “on the most trivial charges” in squalid “dungeons”.
  • The local authorities and towns people fail the young victims in Peter Grimes because, even on “hearing cries”, they look the other way.
  • In Brighton Rock, the police fail to detect that Hale has been murdered.
Illustrative background for Divine justice in *Hamlet*Illustrative background for Divine justice in *Hamlet* ?? "content

Divine justice in Hamlet

  • The Ghost in Hamlet describes his sufferings in what sounds like Purgatory, the place of temporary punishment in the afterlife according to Catholic beliefs. The Christian idea of divine justice – the belief that God is the ultimate judge of our sins – also stops Hamlet from contemplating suicide.
Illustrative background for *Peter Grimes* & *Brighton Rock*Illustrative background for *Peter Grimes* & *Brighton Rock* ?? "content

Peter Grimes & Brighton Rock

  • Peter Grimes is tormented by the “spirits” of his victims. George Crabbe introduces a supernatural element to symbolise his protagonist’s guilt. This can be read as divine justice for Grimes’ earlier “contempt” of religion.
  • In Brighton Rock, Pinkie’s Catholicism leads him to believe in the reality of Hell. Despite this, he shows little sense of guilt for his crimes and seems to accept the idea of eternal punishment as inevitable.

Jump to other topics

1Introduction to Atonement

2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One

3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two

4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three

5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four

5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371

6Key Character Profiles

7Key Themes

8Writing Techniques

9Context

10Critical Debates

Go student ad image

Unlock your full potential with GoStudent tutoring

  • Affordable 1:1 tutoring from the comfort of your home

  • Tutors are matched to your specific learning needs

  • 30+ school subjects covered

Book a free trial lesson