Told One Thing, Shown a Different Thing

After reading the first four chapters of Burke and Hare and the corresponding appendix chapters in the back, I feel there might be some differences between what is written and what is shown. When reading the overview in the back of the book as well as only reading the novel (without looking at the pictures) we learn that Burke and Hare were dangerous men. We are told that "...Burke and Hare's actions were not the work of a couple of loveable Irish rogues - they were murderers: devious, cruel and without consciences." (page 8 of appendix, column two, first full paragraph). Upon reading this, I have no sympathy for the man in the cell and any punishment given to him is too easy.

However, the pictures say differently about how Burke is feeling as he looks back on the things he has done. On page 11, when Burke and Hare are about to kill the first woman, they show them men taking a drink (of what we can assume is alcohol). Why do they do this? I believe that unlike what the author said in the back, that the men did have some sort of humanity in them in knowing that the dead was wrong, so they had to "numb" those feelings in order to do the job. Along with that, Burke never seems to smile as he is holding the victim down or suffocating them (unlike Hare who smiles on page 12).

The big picture that I encountered was on the last page of chapter four (page 17). The second to last box was a picture of Burke looking at his hands. This picture showed to me that he was disgusted with  himself for what he did to those people; that he can't believe his own hands did such awful things. It takes a toll on the conscience when doing something so "inhuman" as killing another person. What kind of things start to go through a person's mind when they are about to kill someone? What about during? After? It can't be good things in order to build up the courage to go through with it but afterwords, when they have had time to think about it, I am sure they beat themselves up for it...just like any one of us does when we have wronged another person. (It might not be as bad as killing, it could be stealing, or cheating, or lying but any person who was brought up with morals would be upset with themselves after.)

So far, this story does well with showing what people of the time thought of these criminals as well as how people now feel about it. It also does a good portrayal of what could have been going through the minds of the men and how they felt in the end. But, why would the author tell us one things, but show us something different?


Signed,
Samantha Brown