Literary fiction is supposed to be entertaining. A rich variety of emotions can emerge by a single book. We read books to relax, have fun, laugh, feel nostalgic, believe in a miracle, or reveal negative emotions like sadness, anger or revenge. Some novels can appear educative; others inspire for great performance. Unfortunately, human mental system is extremely sensitive. By reading thrillers, we are often looking forward to spicy emotions, which cause an adrenaline burst. There are people who forget that they are written purely for entertainment. Some stories may affect the wrong triggers and lead to horrible consequences. How come that books which aimed to entertain and inspire release the opposite effect? Check out these pieces of literature, which lead criminals to irreversible consequences.
Rage
Some people can’t tell a difference between reality and fiction. Stephen King is a master of criminalistics and horror. His violent books are popular all over the world. He knows how to affect right triggers with the word and influence unconsciousness. Unfortunately, the book Rage encouraged a 17-year-old student from California to hold a class hostage for more than nine hours. Later he had admitted that he was inspired by that book. Another accident took place in Washington in 1996. This time the consequences were more tragic. The boy killed two other students and a teacher by shooting. He was only 14 years old.
The Collector
Another masterpiece, which can be categorized as a real-life murder book, is The Collector by John Fowles. The novel tells the story of a socially undeveloped man who wins great fortune in a football pool and buys a house where he feels lonely. He decides to kidnap a young girl he had a crush on, hoping that she would fall in love with him over time. As a result, she dies of an illness. Somehow, the book inspired two males to abduct two girls and use them for housework and sexual slavery. As a result, these men killed at least 25 people adding to their “collection”.
American Psycho
American Psycho is another masterpiece, which gave inspiration to a few famous people who committed crimes. Bret Easton Ellis has written a story about a wealthy young banker from Wall Street who becomes mentally unstable and violent. The author vividly describes the behavior of the main character and his thoughts. It can seriously affect subliminal mind and change the way of thinking. That’s what happened to Michael Hernandez, a young criminal who stabbed another person with a knife 40 times. Another follower of American Psycho was Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old who killed six people and committed suicide.
The Catcher in the Rye
The most famous crime inspired by J. D. Salinger is murder of John Lennon. Mark David Chapman, most famous one out of Catcher in the Rye serial killers, wrote “this is my statement” on one of the book copies which he was reading right on the setting of crime. Why did an iconic book about a youngster becoming an adult inspire such a horrible crime? How can same words be interpreted in such a different way? Perhaps, specialists on this webpage know the answer? On the one hand, every writer uses same instruments for writing a book. On the other hand, it affects people differently, no matter how similar the main principles are.
A Clockwork Orange
Another thriller story, which has encouraged many people to commit crimes. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is the story of a young delinquent who doesn’t like to follow social rules. He is a leader of a criminal group that promotes violence. The main character, Alex, prefers classical music, namely Beethoven. He is a representation of asocial personality with a tendency for physical abuse. His way of criminal activity even has a specific term used by the author – ultra-violence. The book highlights many aspects of adolescent cruelty and the need to pay attention to this specific problem in modern society. Unfortunately, like many other books, it became an action plan for some people. A 14-year-old boy was accused of manslaughter in 1972. According to the court case, his inspiration was A Clockwork Orange movie directed by Stanley Kubrick. Another murder was committed by a 16-year-old and took place in Great Britain, who also referred to the same novel.
Literature should encourage, entertain and educate readers. Certain books are supposed to highlight crimes and explain wrong ways of behavior and thinking, which lead to irreversible consequences. Unfortunately, it has been inspiring criminals.
