Essays on Serial Killer

Abstract

Modern science and technology have had lasting impacts in the area of criminal investigations. Forensic science enables police, law enforcement, and investigators to detect small amounts of evidence left on items and persons at crime scenes. Certain evidence, such as tiny blood stains, were once invisible to the naked eye and had little value to an investigation because the technology for testing the evidence was simply not invented yet. A criminal always transfers some kind of trace evidence between himself and the victim during every crime. Trace evidence is broad and includes things from soil and paint chips to ...

Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines

Criminal profiling is a sensitive line of work. It involves a special mind, available to open themselves up to, at times, the most depraved of characters. Profiling has become such a point of interest it is often the basis of television shows. The recent television adaptation of Red Dragon, aptly called, “Hannibal,” features young versions of Will Graham and Hannibal Lector. The two work together and, for a brief time even become friends. At the center of it is Graham, who works as a criminal profiler on various cases for the FBI. While the show is thrilling and dark, ...

Abstract

The advances of modern science have made a lasting impact in the field of criminal investigations. Forensic science now allows police and other investigators to discover evidence and other clues left on persons and at crime scenes that were once invisible and undetectable to the naked eye. During the commission of every crime, there is always trace evidence transferred between the criminal and the victim. There are many types of trace evidence ranging from soil and paint chips to blood, and body fluids. Before forensic science, it was much easier for criminals to get away with horrific acts and ...

Richard Chase was a serial killer who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and killed a total of six people, two of them young children over the course of a month. He was called the “Vampire of Sacramento” because he drank two of the victims’ blood in addition to drinking the blood of animals he had killed. He was apprehended by police a day later and taken into custody. He was found guilty on six counts of murder and ultimately committed suicide in prison. Throughout his life, he exhibited multiple signs of severe mental illness and was treated by several ...

In the story initial onset Dexter is born in 1971 and Harry Morgan, a detective in Miami adopts him after lying to him that his parents were involved in a tragic road accident (Petersen, 2007). In the show, Dexter can recall the crime scene of the brutal murder of his mother and that of his brother who is a partner in crime. When Dexter is seven years old, Harry discovers Dexter habit of killing pets and decides to channel his homicidal tendencies in a positive way to kill murderers who deserve death (Ruark, 2013). This is because some of these people often escape ...

Psychological profiling started in ``the 1800s.”Some of the people that contributed to psychological profiling are Alphonse Bertiollon, Ernest Kretschmer, Hand Grosss and Jacob Fries. Psychological Profiling entails studying the crime committed and the manner the offence is committed, in order to establish a connection in crimes that indicate similarity in terms of the crime nature and mode of commission.

Jack the Ripper Case” is the first case whereby psychological profiling was applied to facilitate capturing the perpetrator of the crimes. Jack was a ``serial killer.”Jack killed five prostitutes before his capture. The profiling aided the investigators to formulate a mechanism ...

Abstract

The investigation teams, police, judges and courts rely strongly on the forensic medical evidence and use the evidence to build up their efforts. The prime aim is to punish the guilty while avoid connecting the innocent. Interpretation of forensic medical evidence and their role have significantly expanded through the justice system. Steve Wright was found guilty of killing five prostitutes and faces life in jail for the murders. The Ipswich Prostitute Murders made headlines not only in Britain but also caught the attention of Inernatiosnl media. The essay looks at how forensic science and the evidence collected helped to ...

Earley, Pete (2012). The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers. Touchstone. New York City: NY. ISBN-13: 978-1439199039.

Purpose of the book

The purpose of “The Serial Killer Whisperer” is revelation. The minds of serial killers and serial murders have fascinated us through investigative documentaries, sitcoms and Hollywood blockbusters (Schmid, 2005). The information that is portrayed to us in these mediums is generally violent and usually illogical behavior on part of the serial offender. This book, however, reveals a different side to the readers. The side that eludes investigators and criminal profilers; the ...

Introduction

The majority of individuals in many receive much of the knowledge and impressions of the criminal justice system through several forms of media outlets. This means that the myths and perceptions of crime are fueled by the various forms of media. However with the growing urbanizations in many towns, it is necessary for individuals residing in the towns to rely on the mass media to get material and data about the crime. In the circumstances of the city of Smithville, it evident that there were various crimes that were committed. The reporting of what happened, however, may have been ...

Homicide is divided into four types according to the Association of Chiefs of Police. It can be domestic, confrontational, youth, and robbery related. The categories of homicides are different in the selection of arms and reasons. Besides, the murders are driven with the different feelings and causes of their crimes. Finally, the juries react differently on different types of homicide. Moffatt (2000 8) provides two examples to demonstrate the last statement. The first one is the case of Theodore Bundy, the serial killer. He has problems and psychological traumas in child and teenage age and later killed 28 women. ...

Introduction

The Zodiac Killer: AKA the Silenced Badge is a book by Lyndon E. Lafferty that seeks to give the true identity of the Zodiac killer. The actual topic of the book is The Zodiac Killer: Cover-Up: The Silenced Badge. In his book, he outlines the reasons why no officer who knew the story dared to testify. Included in the book are the specific people who were the masterminds behind the act of concealing the Zodiac despite the evidence that led to him. It is a series of a high ranking corruption and dirty political games. Lyndon E. Lafferty mentions all that were ...

Police crime control policies

Crime control is paramount for the economic development of any civilized society. The political stability of any nation is measured by the crime rate. Countries that have low crime rates are more attractive to investors and business leaders. The crime rate in the United States of America was high in the 1990s. The cities were controlled by criminal gangs and at times the fights between criminal gangs took place in the streets. The frequency of homicides was relatively high. The residential places were not spared from crime related violence. Law enforcement officers were criticized for being weaklings. The police ...

The BTK serial killer haunted the police for over 15 years with his killing of innocent victims and leaving behind notes for the police. The case remained unsolved until February 2005 when digital forensics facilitated the reconstruction of evidence and hence the tracking down Rader. The notes consisted of poems and puzzles drafted by the serial killer. He even suggested his own name, BTK, standing for his modus operandi: binding, torturing and killing. However, Denis Rader re-established communication with the police in 2004 a via word document stored in a floppy disk. He was unaware of the fact that the disk ...

Serial killer in modern classification is a killer that during each episode has committed more than three murders without an obvious motive. Although, according to the classification of FBI the determination of serial murder is different and begins from two or more kills that may be committed by one or more killers. Typically between episodes of murders there is a so-called period of cooling emotions and psychological satisfaction of killer. It is believed that most serial killers are antisocial psychological disorders treated with indifference to the suffering of others and contempt for the public morals, but very rarely suffer from distinct ...

In her own way, Flannery O’Connor appears to have been notorious in literary circles for much the same reason as Tim Tebow’s isolation within the National Football League: her zeal for her faith caused others to view her with more than a bit of superstition. Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and other novels, tells a story when O’Connor was describing a knot that had a resemblance to the face of Jesus. After that comparison, Highsmith decided that she did not like O’Connor (Vafidis, web). However, for those who know O’Connor principally through her fiction, her ...

In psychology, there are different psychological theories that have been proposed, researched and augmented by solid research. They provide the theoretical foundation of psychological phenomena. Psychology is anchored on five paradigms namely biogenic, psychoanalytic, behaviorist, humanist and cognitive. In this paper, the psychoanalytic paradigm is the center of focus. In essence, the paper highlights the life of the offender, Dennis Rader through the lenses of psychoanalytic paradigm. Dennis’s criminal behavior is accounted for by psychoanalytic paradigm. Psychology’s principal goal is to have a clear comprehension of individuals and groups, and the explanation of different phenomena. Psychological principles ...

Profiling has become one of the most successful and productive method to solve crimes. Within the recent decades police has been working side by side with psychiatrists and psychologists to create a specific algorithm to profile and catch the offenders that were believed to be “uncatchable". FBI turned out to be the most prominent in this field of research. Profiling nowadays is a combination of law enforcement and science, especially psychology. It is used on a daily basis; however, it is still a new filed of science without many definitions or boundaries. Therefore, it's a common thing for its practitioners to come up with ...

Jack the Ripper

This essay on Jack the Ripper seeks to develop a classification (typology) of the killer by discussing certain psychological, sociological and other aspects of the killer. In addition, based on the profiling, the essay will also explore what happened to the Ripper after he committed these murders.

Sociological Background

Based on the facts and witness accounts, the Ripper seemed to be from a background of poverty and misery, aged around 25-30 years of age, probably based in the same East End Area of London. It also seems that the Ripper probably came from a family with a dominant mother, and a weak father. Also, the Ripper ...

Book Review: Bringing Adam Home, the Abduction that Changed America

Absract This paper gives a review on the book Bringing Adam home: the abduction that changed America. It also considers not only the main themes of the story but also gives examples of how this horrible case changed the society and the whole system of searching missing children. Adam’s parents made a great job for the American society: they changed the system, made TV lineups telling about the most dangerous murderers, created different organizations. The main conclusion is that this story is an example of an eternal love of parents to their children and how they can be brave ...

Psychology

Dexter Morgan Dexter Morgan - a fictional character in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, and the protagonist of the television series "Dexter". In the novels and television series, Dexter is a forensic medical expert on blood spatter, who works for the Miami Police Department, but also, he is a serial killer who preys on other criminals who have managed to cheat justice and escape the punishment. Dexter follows a special code, which his adoptive father Harry Morgan taught him when he was a child. The two most important rules of the "Code of Harry": never kill innocent people and always cover ...

Overview

The second half of summer, 1982. Five women were found strangled to death at the Green river banks in King County, Washington. During the investigation, the detectives found out that all they were prostitutes. They were working nearby. All the women were announced to be lost for some time already. This was only the beginning. In the next several years, more and more girls have been found along the Green River banks and in the woods nearby. If the first five murders made investigators suspect a serial killer in the King County, now there was no doubt about that. Sometimes ...

Flannery O’Connor is a famous author whose work has been extensively read. In her short story titled ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’, she addresses a number of social concern issues. Although she insists that readers of the short story should not subject it to interpretation, there are certain deep-seated issues that are implied by the story. A number of publications by different people have been made to address these issues. This research paper used three publications to find out if the story has an inclination to the Christian religion. A self-righteous Christian grandmother is perturbed by the ...

CRIMINAL LAW

Deviance and violence 2 ABSTRACT In this paper we shall examine the phenomenon called deviation in social aspect and how it manifests itself and our approach to it. The norms that developed and established in the different societies, and the types of deviance from them. Light overview the serial murder and the frequently met obstacles that the law enforcement agencies face during investigating them like linkage blindness, making solid commitment to the investigation, coordination, analyzing information, public and media pressure, victimology and analyzing previous investigation. Follows short examination of the influence of globalization as a prerequisite ...

The Asian film industry has made major development over the years to become a daunting force in the world of film-making. The Asian horror section to be particular has gained major viewership in recent years in an area that has for a long time been thought to be dominated by Western film makers. It has become usual to see Asian horror production directors being eminent in film galas and red-carpet events. This trend can be accredited to the film directors’ proficiency when shooting their films. It should be understood that the quality of film entertainment that film lovers enjoy is a product ...

This paper will reflect over one of the classic literature works of King. It will reflect the interruptions of the one haunting message from the book. It will reflect over interviews and reviews regarding the book. Last it will prove why this book is a true haunting of horror and science fiction. There will not be certain of events that will proceed. This will focus on aspects of the book that gave Goosebumps. The reason it is not being presented in chronological order of events for this is a reflection. The haunting of wheel of fortune was one that gave ...

Hitler was smart, charismatic and evil. Those are deadly virtues for a man seeking a position for dictator. He used these skills to his advantage. He not only was smart, but he had the ability to create art. His paintings were rejected, and this ranged him. He did not like being rejected. Hitler showed all the signs of the classic narracistic traits behavior. He could pretend to care for others but in reality he did not give a care for them. The faking empathy and loving he showed inspired his loyalty Nazis to follow him to the end of the earth. ...

Philosophy

Like a large number of people I thought that serial killers were just Ramon people who lose their minds and start committing violent acts of random murder. The River man by Robert Keppel went a long way in enlightening me and changing my mind about the mindset of a serial killer and the reasons why serial killers do what they do. The book tells the story of the investigations that led to the capture of the serial killer that came to be known more famously as the green river killer.in order for Keppel to fully understand the things that motivate serial killers ...

Serial killing is the most common form of multiple murders. It is in most cases characterized by the killing of three or more persons over a period of time days, weeks or years with a cooling off period between the murders (O’reily-Fleming, pg. 17). The definition of serial murder would go further and evaluate the motive of the serial murder. Many authors have argued that for a series of killings to be termed serial murder, there has to be no clear motive. Some authors tend to equate serial killing with a motive that has no direct or pecuniary vengeful motivation and in ...

This paper discusses the role of Psychopathy Checklist Revised in providing an insight to the level of psychopathy in an individual. It first dissects the meaning of psychopathy and dissects what it entails. Upon giving a broad discussion of a comprehensive meaning of psychopathy, the piece goes ahead to give the link between psychopathy and crime. It settles on the life of Paul Kenneth Bernardo, an example of a psychopath whose life defines psychopathy at its best. The Canadian serial killer sent a wave of terror across the country through his cruel rapes, sexual assaults and murders. The serial killer worked together with ...

The term, ‘Serial killer’ is used for anyone who assassinates others in a sequence in different incidents. Usually an incident is known as incident of serial killing when the number of victims exceeds three or more in a limited period of one to four week. These killings are executed in brutal manner and victims are usually unknown to the serial killers. There are various reasons of serial killings right from revenge to fun and other reasons. This paper intends to discuss serial killers, various reasons and consequences of such killings, along with discussing several other related aspects of the subject matter. ...

Plot Analysis

The story begins with a grandmother trying to convince her family not to go to Florida. She prefers to visit friends in east Tennessee. During her initial conversation, the grandmother introduces the character, Misfit, a serial killer who has just been released from federal penitentiary. She says that she could not answer to her conscience if the family had an encounter with Misfit. However, her pleas to her son and daughter-in-law fall into deaf ears. While passing plantations the grandmother recalls a plantation she had visited years back being nearby. The children insist on visiting the plantation and their father is ...

Psychology

The Riverman gives a detailed description of the amount of psychological work that went into the apprehension of a man responsible for a series of serial murders. This man came to be dubbed as the green river killer. The Riverman gives a vivid description of Robert Keppel’s twenty-year pursuit and ultimate apprehension of this criminal. This particular killer was suspected of at least forty-nine homicides and to call him a public nuisance would be perhaps the biggest understatement of the years. Clever and cunning was this killer that law enforcement authorities found it increasingly harder, near impossible, to bring him to justice and ...

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Prehistory

Mills, Charles Manson (born November 12, 1934, Cincinnati, Ohio) - American serial killer, the leader of the commune "Family", the individual members of which in 1969 carried out a series of brutal murders. Charles Manson was born on November 12, 1934 at a public hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother , Kathleen Maddox , was at the time of his birth, only sixteen years old and she was married ( Cincinnati was not her hometown , she fled there from Ashland Kentucky ) . At birth, he was named as the " nameless Maddox » («no name Maddox»), but all the ...

Book Review – “Monster of Florence: A True Story”

Book Review – “Monster of Florence: A True Story”

Introduction

Review of the book, "The Monster of Florence: A True Story by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi published in its first edition 2008 shows the publisher as New York: Grand Central Publishing. The author presents the story over 36 chapters divided in two parts – the first about the background of the decades- long mystery and the second focusing on the current investigation. This review includes comments about the author, a summary, and discussion about the material presented. According to MacLeod-Johnson (2013) the author of “Monster of Florence: A True Story” Douglas ...

The definition of serial killers is highly debatable as some find the need to distinguish them from mass murderers. However, there are distinguishable features that allow professionals to profile serial killers to be calculating, detail oriented and precise killers (Waller, 2010) making them more distinct as compared to other killers and murderers. They are not impulsive killers but rather they plan their next move and carefully select their victims. Profiling series killers led the police authorities to categorize them into four types as follows: mission oriented type, hedonistic type, visionary type, and power/control type. In an attempt to understand ...

Criminal Law

Serial Killers According to Hickey (2003, p. 420) the investigative difficulties with regard to the serial murder investigation is the lack of recognition of foreign cases. This is a common problem in the U.S. among their foreign investigators due to the inability to identify the motive of the accused, random victims, high geographic mobility of offenders and linkage blindness. Serial crime investigations often lead to criticism, public and media pressure for failure to provide a strong identification of the accused and weak crime linkage. The investigative tools and approaches used by law enforcement include media forensic DNA analysis, case linkage system ...

Criminal Law

Thesis Statement: Drug offense carry more severe penalties compared to murder charges due to the rising number of drug-related offenses each year and serve as a measure to deter the use of prohibited drugs. At present, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 has imposed the death penalty for all drug-related killings or murder which involves the use of drugs. Aside from this, the bill which has amended Sec. 848 of Title 21 United States Code (USC) Controlled Substances Act has imposed death penalty or life imprisonment for some of the drug offenses that cover possession of 10 kilograms and ...

Research Outline

Introduction The research asserts that successful psychopaths in this world exhibit the characteristics of being fearless, dominant and passionate in what they engage in. It points out that chief executive officers (CEO’s) and serial killers have in them these peculiar personalities. It is believed that this uniqueness in their lives is the reason behind their success in whatever functions they perform. Due to their virtue of being fearless, they are able to lead people and also perform activities that normal people fear. Psychopaths also bear in them the characters of being manipulative and charming. It is thought ...

Socialization is the process in which a person interacts with people in the society and forms relationships with them. Criminological and sociological theories, including the social strain theory, explain crime in terms of a person's social relationships. What sets Robert Agnew’s strain theory apart is that it specifically focuses on negative social relationships, in which people are not treated as they want to be treated, thus promoting and leading to criminal and deviant behavior. According to strain theory, people adopt criminal and deviant behavior when others prevent them from achieving positively valued goals/stimuli. The focus of the strain theory was ...

Introduction

“You don't understand! I have a daughter and she's sick! That makes it okay for me to break the law! I am not a bad person.” (Spider Man 3, 2007) This is considered to be somekind of a trope when it comes down to an indiviudual turning into a criminal for the reason that of socio-economic motives, or just basic horrible conditions. Essentially, a group or a person of individulas are in dire straits and really need currency directly and develop into drug dealer and bank robbers, out of necessity. This kind of trope normally happens a lot of crime dramas (precisely drams that are urban). ...

The Coen Brothers have, one may say created an absolute masterpiece of a movie, which some may say is an amalgamation of the Wild West movies of old and a horror story. “The wide open plains, cowboys, Texas, guns and horses but has the syntax of a film noir even sometimes a horror movie. There is a murderer, one could even call him an unstoppable force, he kills without mercy and with a semi-novelty killing device. It deals with a man who finds a loot of money and must escape his pursuers who are a bunch of dirty business men, corrupted by greed and the lust for power ...

The Alienist by Caleb Carr is one of the most imperative works, not only of the author, but also in American History. It portrays the initial rough days of America. The novel basically presents the take of the author on the violence and grotesqueness which was then a common part of New York streets. A series of murders take place in the novel, description of which is heart wrenching. Moore along with Roosevelt and other young police officers try to find the serial killer without involving other government officials because they are aware of their lack of interest. It ...

Dexter Morgan

Dexter Morgan is the American serial killer who works during the day for the Miami Metro Homicide as a blood splatter analysis; while, at night, he searches for the perpetrators of the crimes and kills them. Dexter lives in two separate lives as he loves his job in Miami as the blood spatter analyst as each day he goes to different crime scenes. He is also able to elucidate how different victims died by looking at the blood from the scene of the crime. In the beginning, of the series Dexter is married to a lady called Rita and they both ...

Abstract

The forensic mental health field of study enables specialization pertaining to issues that have ethical practical implications. The discipline stretches across boundaries practicing as psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors or social workers. There are diversity of areas encompassing this practice. Forensic mental health practitioners’ function can extend towards examining persons classified as criminals to determine whether they are capable of standing trial. They also work with mentally ill people in their institutional setting to enhance receptivity of care. In following pages of this document a case study along with a number of scenarios will be explored as a means of evaluating the ability ...

Horror, as a genre of fiction, plays a very important part in the human experience. Through horror stories, mankind is allowed to experience fear in a safe environment. For us, fear is thrilling; the rush of endorphins that one feels when they are scared, and the relief that pours over us when the danger is gone, is something that many people chase over and over again. Horror is also important to allow us to face existing fears, and figure out why we are so frightened of them. In this way, horror helps us learn more about ourselves and how we work, and ...

The influence of media on criminals and killers has been oft-publicized; regardless of the positions people take on the extent to which film, television and other mass media influences our collective unconscious, it is clear that certain genres or portrayals of sex and violence in popular culture heavily influence our personalities, attitudes and preferences (Seltzer 2007). To that end, the exploration of these types of media is an essential part of exploring the psychology of the killer, serial or otherwise. For the past century, film has become an important part of our new cultural mythology; movie characters become our ...

The 2009 superhero film Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder, takes place in an alternate version of 1985 in which Nixon has been elected a third term, superheroes have been banned from operating without the consent of the United States government, and the world is on the brink of nuclear destruction. In order to set up this world, and convey a lot of information about the politics and characters of the time, Snyder and co. created a nearly 6-minute long title sequence to the tune of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" that tells us everything we need to know about the ...

Serial Murder

There is multiple definition of serial murder in the last thirty years, in the literature. These definitions share many things, but they differ on few issues. This is because they differ on the motivation of committing the murder, number of causalities, and the nature of the murder. However, attempts have been made to differentiate a serial killer from other murder, such as, spree murder, mass murder among others. As a result, the most acceptable definition of serial murder is the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate occasions. Therefore, a serial murder is a person that ...

Arguably, the society today is full of criminal activity that has rendered many communities unsecured. The most form of crime that threatens many people is serial killing. Certainly, the crime of serial killing does not only exist in one country, but globally. As a matter of fact, media are very important tool in informing the public on various issues. For many decades, many people believe that there is a relationship between media and serial killings. Media in one way or another has boosted the fears among people, especially on serial killers. By definition, serial killers are individuals who commit various murders ...

Serial killers are always an interesting study and the United States has had its fair share of these, especially in the last century. The case selected for analysis here is Jeffrey Dahmer who killed a large number of underage boys after having lured them and had sex with them. It remains one of the most compelling cases of recent times not least due to the fact that Dahmer himself was murdered while serving out a life term in prison a few years after he was convicted (Purcell, 2006). Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer who murdered a huge number of men in a spree ...

Introduction

The heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it. This is sometimes difficult to believe but a review of the life, charges and confessions made by Ted Bundy can confirm this to us that quote from the bible is correct. Psychological depression might actually be responsible for majority of the actions or it might be as a result of interest or joy being derived from someone else pain or discomfort. These views about the notorious American serial killer Ted Bundy could be confirmed by exploring different perspective of his life, and actions. Exploring all the issues surrounding the serial ...

David Parker Ray was born in November 6, 1939 in Belen, New Mexico. He died in May 28, 2002, at the age of sixty two years. His death was as a result of myocardial infarction. During his life, Ray was linked with serial killings. Approximately fourteen to sixty killings were executed by him. He did his killing operations in the states of New Mexico, in United States. In March 22, 1999, he was apprehended. The serial killer operated as from 1950 to March 22, 1999. Besides killing people, Ray was suspected of involvement in the torturing of women. His ...

Abstract

The psychology of a serial killer will be the subject of discussion in this paper. Emphasis would be placed on the events which occurred in their childhood (child neglect), their psychopathic behavior and the influence of brain disorders in pushing them towards violence.

Besides their callous brutality, serial killers are also renowned for their deception. Most of them operate for years before authorities stumble upon a clue which uncovers their violent behavior. A majority of serial killers that have been uncovered were found in America. This is quite troubling and one wonders whether the unrivalled freedoms in this country have led ...

The serial killer-thriller Se7en, released in 1995, depicts the search for a serial killer who is strategically murdering people according to the Seven Deadly Sins of man. Over the course of the film, the two protagonists, the detectives Mills and Somerset, wrestle with their own sense of right and wrong, while the serial killer John Doe unerringly goes about his own quest for justice in the world. There are many connections made between the way Somerset and John Doe look at their surroundings, as they are revealed to be different sides of the same coin.

There is a great deal of ...