Detection in Crime Texts
English Lit: AQA A Level Atonement - Specification B, topic 7.5.2
Detection in Crime Texts
When thinking about the significance of detection in Atonement and other set texts, you could discuss the representation of the detective and the point of view from which we observe the detectives.
Agatha Christie's detectives
- The detective figure is often an outsider, someone who works independently of the police. Police inspectors are commonly portrayed as ineffective.
- For example, Agatha Christie contrasts the comical ineptitude of Inspector Raglan with the brilliant figure of Hercule Poirot.
Brighton Rock & My Last Duchess
- Brighton Rock’s Ida Arnold’s is another outsider who discounts the official version of Hale’s death and sets out to hunt down his murderer.
- In My Last Duchess, the detective figure (the Duke) is an obvious villain and delivers his own punishment for what he sees as his wife’s infidelity.
Our perspective on detectives
- In Atonement, Briony is often the focalizer from whose perspective we witness events. However, we soon learn that Briony misunderstands the world around her and that her piecing together of the clues is highly flawed.
- In Brighton Rock, the detective and criminal alternate as focalizer, helping to build tension as the hunter closes in on the hunted.
Test yourself on Detection in Crime Texts
Which detective figure in Brighton Rock discounts the official version of Hale’s death?
In which crime text do detective and criminal alternate as focalizer?