‘In crime writing the crimes committed are due
to a personal weakness within the criminal'
‘In crime writing the crimes committed are due to a personal weakness within the criminalʼ
Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Poetry Anthology
Dr Sheppardʼs “strain of weakness”.
Ballad of Reading Gaol
Peter Grimes
In crime writing, critics have discussed to what extent much like in tragedy the crime occurs
due to something innately within the criminal themselves acting like a hamartia. This
interpretation eliminates the idea that crime becomes conditioned due to the criminals life
experiences, luck, and the society around them, instead suggesting that it occurs due to an ‘evil
geneʼ or a ‘personal weaknessʼ. In this essay I will therefore discuss to what extent this is the
case in the ‘Murder of Roger Ackroydʼ and examples from the poetry anthology.
In ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroydʼ this idea of personal weakness is directly addressed in the
novel. As Caroline states to Dr Sheppard that, “With a bad bringing up, Heaven knows what
mischief you might have got into by now”, referring to her brother as being as “weak as water”
to Poirot with the repeated ‘wʼ alliteration adding a watery effect not dissimilar to Sheppardʼs
own eliding of the truth. Through this Caroline (who is seen as a forefront runner for being the
sleuth Mrs Marple) ironically and unintentionally identifies her brother as the criminal. Although
the dialogue may initially be seen as infantilising and sibling rivalry, Poirot then directly address
this “strain of weakness” profiling the criminal perfectly; “He may stumble by accident on a
secret… Here is a chance of money… And in his greed, he overreaches himself” presenting how
it is this strain of weakness in Dr Sheppard which causes him to commit the crime not some
force of evil which has possessed him. The characters initially believe that this weakness is
supposed to be about Ralph Paton who is known to be weak in handling money being in a lot of
debt which Mr Ackroydʼs death saved him from – yet it is really the central criminal of the novel,
Dr Sheppard, who Poirot is describing. Through this it can be argued that the crimes of
blackmailing Mrs Ferrars, and murder are both linked to this personal weakness in Sheppardʼs
character as stated by the detective himself.
Yet, Sheppard provides a further conflict of interpretation as he appears to have a subtle
element of enjoyment in his crime. It becomes clear a man who simply suffered from a personal
weakness would not have been so ruthless and greedy in his blackmail requesting “twenty-five
thousand pounds” with Poirot stating the “price of murder is not cheap”. Instead, we would
expect a character more paranoid and meek in response to their crimes. Sheppard juxtaposes
this, expressing no guilt or remorse by the end of the novel as he states that; “Not that I take
any responsibility for Mrs Ferrarsʼs death…I feel no pity for her. I have no pity for myself either”.
to a personal weakness within the criminal'
‘In crime writing the crimes committed are due to a personal weakness within the criminalʼ
Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Poetry Anthology
Dr Sheppardʼs “strain of weakness”.
Ballad of Reading Gaol
Peter Grimes
In crime writing, critics have discussed to what extent much like in tragedy the crime occurs
due to something innately within the criminal themselves acting like a hamartia. This
interpretation eliminates the idea that crime becomes conditioned due to the criminals life
experiences, luck, and the society around them, instead suggesting that it occurs due to an ‘evil
geneʼ or a ‘personal weaknessʼ. In this essay I will therefore discuss to what extent this is the
case in the ‘Murder of Roger Ackroydʼ and examples from the poetry anthology.
In ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroydʼ this idea of personal weakness is directly addressed in the
novel. As Caroline states to Dr Sheppard that, “With a bad bringing up, Heaven knows what
mischief you might have got into by now”, referring to her brother as being as “weak as water”
to Poirot with the repeated ‘wʼ alliteration adding a watery effect not dissimilar to Sheppardʼs
own eliding of the truth. Through this Caroline (who is seen as a forefront runner for being the
sleuth Mrs Marple) ironically and unintentionally identifies her brother as the criminal. Although
the dialogue may initially be seen as infantilising and sibling rivalry, Poirot then directly address
this “strain of weakness” profiling the criminal perfectly; “He may stumble by accident on a
secret… Here is a chance of money… And in his greed, he overreaches himself” presenting how
it is this strain of weakness in Dr Sheppard which causes him to commit the crime not some
force of evil which has possessed him. The characters initially believe that this weakness is
supposed to be about Ralph Paton who is known to be weak in handling money being in a lot of
debt which Mr Ackroydʼs death saved him from – yet it is really the central criminal of the novel,
Dr Sheppard, who Poirot is describing. Through this it can be argued that the crimes of
blackmailing Mrs Ferrars, and murder are both linked to this personal weakness in Sheppardʼs
character as stated by the detective himself.
Yet, Sheppard provides a further conflict of interpretation as he appears to have a subtle
element of enjoyment in his crime. It becomes clear a man who simply suffered from a personal
weakness would not have been so ruthless and greedy in his blackmail requesting “twenty-five
thousand pounds” with Poirot stating the “price of murder is not cheap”. Instead, we would
expect a character more paranoid and meek in response to their crimes. Sheppard juxtaposes
this, expressing no guilt or remorse by the end of the novel as he states that; “Not that I take
any responsibility for Mrs Ferrarsʼs death…I feel no pity for her. I have no pity for myself either”.
