Preview

Hh Holmes

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2560 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hh Holmes
H. H. Holmes

A. Introduction:
On May 16, 1861 Herman Webster Mudgett was born. His home town was Gilmanton, New Hampshire and he soon would become the notorious Dr. H.H. Holmes, Americas’ first Serial Killer. He was a small white male born into a devout Methodist family. Holmes’ mother Theodate Page Price forced strict religious studies while his father, Levi Horton Mudgett handed out the harsh, strong discipline. Holmes had one brother and sister.

B. Intelligence, Social achievement, social adjustment in school: Holmes was thought to be unusually intelligent at an early age. With his great ambition and drive he excelled in school. He attended Gilmanton Acade3my High School, University of Vermont for one year, and in 1882 attending University of Michigan Medical School and graduates from medical school in 1884. It is his time spent at University of Michigan that he develops his lust for blood and becoming immune from death and dismemberment. This is also where he develops and masters the art of scamming and because of this he changes his name to Dr. H. H. Holmes in 1886 to elude former acquaintances from coming forth with accusations of fraud or death.

C. Family structure and environment: Holmes was the son of Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price and had a very privileged childhood. The environment of the household was that of any family of this era, the 1800’s. They raised their children to be good people, never lie, work hard, pray for everything good and bad, and always show respect. Holmes had a brother and sister but there is no information on them which makes it difficult to explain birth order.

D. Emotional adjustment in the family: Herman Webster Mudgett (Dr. H. H. Holmes) was raised in a very privileged home but under strict and very structured circumstances. His relationship with his family was typical of any young boy. He had respect for his family and says that he “was well trained by loving and religious

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Holmes had offered rooms to young women arriving to attend the fair, but many of those women associated with him had disappeared. In addition, he had employed a number of young women, who also had disappeared. From what could be reconstructed, it seemed that Holmes had tortured and murdered these women, disposing of their corpses in his furnace in the cellar or defleshing them and selling the skeletons to medical schools.…

    • 5132 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The author shows that Holmes is very mindful because he can notice things that the common person cannot. In the play Holmes begins to tell everyone what he observed and how he knew who committed the crime from the very beginning. “Elementary, my dear Watson. I knew that Spaulding was awfully keen to spend time in Mr.…

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Larson’s tone when describing Holmes’ background and his characteristics is an ambiguous tone because Holmes was perceived as charming, well looking, and genuine, but in reality everything was just an act, which covered his true identity. Holmes is not the handsome young man everyone thinks he is because according to previous pages, he left Mooers Fork without paying his lodging bill, which supports his true identity, a criminal. Especially now that Holmes is the new owner of the pharmacy, he does not need anything from Mrs. Holton, and therefore creates for her to disappear. Holmes is clearly responsible for the disappearance of Mrs. Holton because as neighbors ask for her, he changes a fraction of the story to explain her disappearance for…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Biography of Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, Jeffrey was born in New York on December 17, 1942 and he was the oldest of five siblings. Wigand family was Catholic. His father was a mechanical engineer. Wigand's parents were strict disciplinarians who showed little affection toward their kids. (Jeffrey Wigand Biography) Wigand in an early age he was a talented student showed a great ability to learn things mainly in chemistry and biology. Throughout his education he dreamed of becoming a doctor, he went to Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie. While Wigand was in the Community College he had a part-time job as a scrub nurse at Vassar Brothers Hospital.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katsu Kokichi essay

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Another factor that impacted his identity formation was his family. He respected his father and always listened to him. He did not like was his adopted grandmother, though. He wrote that she was, “nasty to me, too, and nagged and scolded day after day.”4 Both…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    H. Holmes killed between twenty-seven and two hundred people in his lifetime and most of them took place during the time of the Chicago fair. As a resut, it is not hard to believe that Holmes could have committed the Ripper murders as well. One of the similarities between Holmes and Jack the Ripper is that they both had brutal ways of killing. Holmes dissected his victims after gassing them or letting them starve to death. Whereas, the Ripper mutilated his victims. Some people argue that Holmes and the Ripper’s murdering methods were completely different. However, according to Meredith Worthen it is hard to deny the similarities between Holmes and the Ripper when it comes to their brutal and savage ways of…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Deanna Holmes

    • 615 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The passage “Fish Cheeks” written by Amy Tan is a short based on Amy Tan’s personal experience as a typical Asian girl growing up in an American culture. Amy’s only wishes that her and her family were more American so that she could fit the modern American world. She has a huge crush on a boy named Robert, who is the minister’s son and she gets terrified when she finds out Roberts family gets invited her to a traditional Chinese Christmas Eve dinner. Just when Amy thought it couldn’t get any worse, her fears became true, her mother brought out the steamed fish, eyeballs with everything still intact, her father then added to her discomfort by poking its cheeks and announcing that it was her favorite dish on Christmas. After everyone had gone, Amy’s mother had implied that she could looked like an “American girl on the outside but must remain a Chinese girl on the inside”. The author uses details to reveal that an embarrassing experience is about to change how she felt about her family’s heritage making her realize that her feelings of “shame” were based on other people’s reactions more than her own feelings.…

    • 615 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Scandal In Bohemia

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is known for his keen observation skills and logical thinking that has outsmarted criminal masterminds. His ability to conclude a theory from reason and logic is impressive; however, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts" (Scandal, 3). For his cases, Holmes gathers up data and information in any way he can, one being the art of disguise. The use of disguises play a significant part in crime solving because they allow Holmes to conceal his identity so he can gather information and ultimately deceive society.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Holmes knew he possessed great power over Julia. First there was the power that accrued to him naturally through his ability to bewitch men and women alike with false candor and warmth; second, the power of social approbation that he now focused upon her” (Larson…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sherlock Holmes can be identified as one of the most brilliant fictional characters of the 19th century period. As a “consulting detective”, he uses his extraordinary abilities and logical reasoning to solve some of the most difficult cases. Equally as brilliant in his field, Sigmund Freud is identified in the novel as a neurologist that extensively studies the human mind and behavior. Both Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud share many similarities in Meyer’s novel. One obvious parallel is each character’s remarkable abilities in their profession. In chapter IV Holmes does an impressive analysis of the Dr. Freud and surprises everyone after using clues to identify many of the Dr.’s personal and professional characteristics. Freud’s intelligence is likewise showcased when he is able to reveal the underlying cause of Holmes’ addiction to cocaine in the last paragraph of the story. Another similarity is that both characters are loners. Other than Dr. Watson, Holmes does not trust or allow others in his life. As for Dr. Freud, he is excluded from society and colleagues due to his radical ideas and methods of work. Both characters also happen to smoke Tobacco. For Holmes it was “huge amounts of shag”, during his cases whereas Freud would indulge in cigars.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holmes relied on his deceptive techniques, the vulnerability of others and his charming personality to coax others into giving him what he needed in order to become a successful business owner of a pharmacy. In order to make money to fuel his elaborate lifestyle he had dreamed about, he “devised an elaborate life insurance fraud” to fake the death of four people in order to collect their life insurance policy (Larson 42). Holmes “sensed vulnerability, sensed it that way another man might capture the trace of a woman’s perfume.”(Larson 36) and preyed on any victim that would give him the slightest advantage. Mrs. Holton, a new widow with a pharmacy on her hands, was the perfect prey for Holmes. He coerced her into letting him buy the pharmacy and thanked her with tears in his eyes that he would now be “for the first time . . . established in a business that was satisfactory” (Larson…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the summer of 1895, America was held captive by the search for a family of children believed to be kidnapped at best and murdered at worst by H. H. Holmes. At the time of the search, Holmes was sitting in jail in Philadelphia waiting for his trial for the murder of the children's father, Benjamin Pitezel. Hardworking and driven detective Fred Geyer was assigned to the case, and over the course of the season he followed nine hundred leads all across the Midwest. Finally, in September, “a Philadelphia grand jury voted to indict Holmes for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel... Indiana [for] Howard Pitezel.... Toronto [for] Alice and Nellie” (Larson 369). The locations of the murders of Benjamin, Howard, and Alice and Nellie (Philadelphia, Indiana, and Toronto, respectively) are all hundreds of miles apart, and following the trail of a genius criminal between them was no easy feat. Detective Geyer was able to pursue crimes across the continent, exhibiting widespread determination; not only did Geyer never give up, but the Philadelphia Police Department never withdrew him from the field. Everyone involved in Holmes’ case believed that he had to be incarcerated, and as a result no one let the case drop. The nineteenth century was a time when disappearances were of the least concern and cases often went cold if pursued if all. However, the entire nation was entranced by…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, H. H. Holmes was one of the most dangerous and deranged men in history, being “born with the devil in him,” as he believed. Although only being convicted for one murder, Holmes confessed to killing up to 27 people and is believed to have killed up to 200. Holmes’ life story with the murder castle, his crimes and capture, and trial definitely captures his insanity throughout his…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    HH Holmes

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages

    H.H. Holmes proved his madness in his design of his hotel near the World's Fair in Chicago. He had a litany of evil deeds that would take a lot of lives of innocent people. Holmes’s personality is perfect for someone who could be able to commit murder, someone with, “dark hair, and striking blue eyes” (35). On the surface H.H. Holmes seemed to be a productive member of society. Born and raised in the small state of New Hampshire, he turned his fascination with the human body into a career when he graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1884. Wealthy, well-educated and refined, the young doctor moved to Chicago where he became the owner of a drugstore, and eventually opened a hotel. His design of the building reflected Holmes’s desires to hide bodies, and clothing within the basement of the building to cover his crime. Later, the building was destroyed as a death chamber. Holmes wanted his hotel, “just comfortable enough and cheap enough to lure a certain kind of clientele and convincing enough to justify a large fire insurance policy” (85). He was a total lady-killer. Holmes knew how to make women feel special and knew how to use the greater liberalism of the time by carefully, gently flouting convention, which women away from their homes and families desired: "He stood too close, stared too hard, touched too much and long. And women adore him for it." (5). Even after he was discovered women defended him: "Holmes, she swore, had a gentle heart. He adored children and animals. He was a lover of pets and always had a dog or cat and usually a horse." (6). Holmes could create the appearance of normalcy and charm, despite what slaughter and brutality lurked beneath his lie. He also broken the usual rules that concern how to deal with women in public places, but “women had adored him for it.” (36). His sort of deception would be the first one of his evil deeds; his lustful will for women and his control over them. People…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    his psychology. As a result he became interested in psychical research as well as the hypnotic…

    • 2489 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics