Pop Goes the Weasel is a one of James Patterson’s many detective novels. In this particular story D.C. detective, Alex Cross, is faced with not one but four killers. They call themselves the “Four Horsemen”. This name stems from the four horsemen of the apoxolypse: Death, Famine, War, and Pestilence. These men met back when they were in the service together and now, many years later, they live spread across the world. At first it started as a game; their own twisted fantasy. They would make up grusome stories to tell eachother every week. Soon the stories turned into realities as they could no longer supress their sadistic urges. The worst of the four is, not surprisingly, “Death” who lives in Washington D.C. Death is played by Geoffrey Shafer. He is a seemingly normal, upper-class man with a wife and children. He is also a part of the British Embassy and noone would ever suspect him of the violent homoscides taking place in the city. At first noone notices the pattern emerging because Death only targets prostitutes in the bad part of town. Alex Cross is one of the few people who take an interest in investigating the deaths and as he gets closer to solving the case he finds himself thrown right into the middle of the fantasy. Now that Cross is playing the game, the Horsemen decide to meet up in person once again. While on a relaxing vacation with his family Alex Cross proposes to his girlfriend and only days later she is kiddnapped by the Horsemen. He races to identify the Four Horsemen, save his fiancee, and end the game once and for all.
1. Because the victims were prostitutes from a poor, mainly black, area of D.C. not many people cared about the rising body count. Alex Cross had to go against the orders of his superiors in order to investigate this case. Would you risk getting fired to catch the killer of people society deemed “undesirable”?
2. The Horsemen went from telling made up stories to actually killing. Has there ever been a time in your life when something that started merely as a game or joke escalated into something much more?
9 comments:
1) I don't know if I would even go looking for the killer because I would be terrified, but if I were to actually have the guts to go looking for a murderer I believe that maybe I would risk getting fired, but because the victims were not people that I knew well or had connections with I would probably not take the risk of getting fired, or hurt and go looking for the killer.
To answer the first question, I think I would risk getting fired in order to catch the killer of people society deemed "undesirable." I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I had not given my best in trying to catch this person. The consequences in this particular case should not even exsist because they are based on racism. I think it is more honorable to do what is right than to worry about the labels that a society places on people. To answer the second question, there has been a time in my life when something that started as merely a joke escalated into something much more. Joking is fun and we all do it, but if it gets out of hand, huge problems can arise. Therefore, it's important that we know where to draw the line and that we are careful not to cross it.
Knowing that a killer was on the loose, I would definitely risk my job in order to solve the case. Finding and catching criminals is the basis of the job, and knowing that I had let a killer continue his killing spree would not be something that I could live with. The fact that the victims are prostitutes should not be a factor; even though they are deemed as "undesirable" by society, they are still human beings and should be treated like ones.
1. If I really believed that I was right about the killer then yes I would put my job on the line to find him. If you don't believe in yourself or stand up for what you believe in then no one else will either.
2. Yeah sometimes like jokes or games have started fights or gotten really serious really quickly to the point where it isn't fun anymore.
1. If I were brave enough and had the right tools, I would probably risk my job to find the killer. Just because someone is deemed "undesirable" by one or a small group of people, doesn't mean they are. They have families and people who depend on and love them. It's not fair to take *anyone's* life away.
1) I would try and catch the killer whether it ment risking my job or not. I would not feel right about myself if I did not try my best to stop him.
2) There has been many times when something started as a joke and got out of hand. Sometimes they have led to my friends and I getting into huge fights. Other times, I have not expirienced it, but joking can lead to bullying which can lead to suicide. Joking has to be used at the right time and place for people to not take it seriously.
I too would try to catch the killer. If i didnt and another person died i would have some guilt thinking i could of did something. Yes there was a time in my life where something started small and became much more. I didnt know why they became huge, but they did. One statement can end up ruining your day, or ruining a relationship.
I think i would risk getting fired even for the "undesirable" people. Some people may have mad bad choices in their life and do things that others do not approve of, but it does not make their life and less important than anyone elses and their killers should be brought to justice.
Regardless of the "desirability" of an individual, they are still humans and should be treated with respect. Detectives jobs are to find killers and bring the to justice. It should not matter who or what the victim was; a life is a life regardless of age, race, gender, or social standing. That being said, if I went through schooling to become a detective, I would do everything I could to catch any killer. Also, as Kara and a couple other people said previously, it would be very hard to be at peace with yourself if you behaved in any other way.
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