CATCHER IN THE RYE: LITERATURE’S INFLUENCE ON SERIAL KILLERS

Furthermore, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad is said to have inspired one of the most notorious killers in American society, a man who evaded the FBI for 20 years: The Unabomber From 1978 to 1996, The Unabomber, who would eventually be identified as Ted Kaczynski, sent a number of bombs in the mail to various different locations, such as universities, airlines, etc., in doing so, he killed three people and injured multiple others. The Secret Agent was about a crazy professor who suddenly quit his job and became a recluse who then decided to create a bomb and blow up an observatory Before the FBI even knew who the bomber was, they suspected that he would be eerily similar to Joseph Conrad’s character. In 1996 when Kaczynski was finally captured, the police could finally see what they had only suspected:

With Kaczynski's April arrest, the parallels fell neatly into place Kaczynski, a brilliant man who has been troubled most of his life, fled academia for a hermit's existence in a Montana shanty, where, grossly unkempt, he lived for a time off turnips he grew behind his cabin. One of the anarchists in the novel lived on a diet of raw carrots (Kovaleski).

Furthermore, before his capture when he was evading the police and FBI, Kaczynski would use pseudonyms like “Conrad or Konrad” when checking into hotels Kaczynski's arrest was due to his brother turning him in His brother, David, recognized his brother's writing style in the manifesto that he wrote. Kaczynski is currently in prison for life without a chance of parole (Kovaleski).

These crimes , as well as those committed by Chapman and Hinckley exemplify the impact literature can have on the human psyche of those with other predispositions

In general, novels can certainly have a powerful impact on the way people think or feel Of course, not all people who read become psychopaths, but these examples illustrate that novels have the ability to invoke not only the richest and most knowledgeable part of our minds but the deepest, darkest parts that were hidden away, influencing the unstable to commit heinous acts.

Works Cited

Adwar, Corey. “School Shootings Drove Stephen King to Take Rage Off Shelves ” Business Insider, 1 April 2014 www business insider com/school-shootings-drove-stephen-king-to-take-rage-off-s helves-2014-3

Caplan, Lincoln The Insanity Defense and the Trial of John W Hinckley, Jr Olympic Marketing Corp 1984

Hinckley, John (JohnHinckley20) “After 41 years 2 months and 15 days, FREEDOM AT LAST!!!” 15 May 2011, 3:58 p m Tweet

Johnson, Beth “A Fan’s Fatal Obsession ” Entertainment Weekly, no 283, July 1995, p 72 EBSCOhost, search ebscohost com/login aspx? direct=true&db=aph&AN=9507191053&authtype=geo&geocus tid=cjrlc085&site=ehost-live

“Kentucky Student Seizes 11 Students as Hostages ” The Washington Post, 19 September 1989 www washingtonpost com/archive/politics/1989/09/19 /kentucky-studentseizes-11-classmates -as-hostages/42754e71-7811-4086-9751cb01b5da593f/

Kovaleski, Serge F “1907 Conrad Novel May Have Inspired Unabomb Suspect ” The Washington Post, 9 July 1996 www washingtonpost com/archive/politics/1996/ 07/09/1907conrad-novel-may-have-inspired-unabomb-suspect/6593b4cc-7d6e4c27-9181-2fc0315f989b/

Nolasco, Stephanie “Mark David Chapman Says He Murdered John Lennon for Fame: 'Evil in my Heart '” New York Post, 8 November 2022 https://nypost com/2022/11/08/mark-david-chapman-says -hemurdered-john-lennon-for-fame/

"Red Scare." Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com/defense/energygovernment-and-defense-magzines/red-scare

Salinger, J D Catcher in the Rye Little, Brown & Company, 1951

Stashower, Daniel “Crime: On First Looking into Chapman's Holden: Speculations on a Murder ” The American Scholar, 1983, www jstor org/stable/41210957