Jeffrey Dahmers

H.H. Holmes, Ed Gein, and Jeffrey Dahmer -- these names are likely to send shivers down your spine. Why? They aconsidered by many to be real-life, human monsters. But why do we equate them with monsters, and why do they inspire such fear, even now? By comparing the crimes and tendencies of these three serial killers, we can uncover the complex relationship between humans and monsters, how distinctions between the two are defined and understood symbolically. Serial killers are often imagined as monsters because they are uncannily human and I humane; while they do "monstrous" things, their cruelty is partly cause by uncontrollable urges that are undeniably human. H.H. Holmes, sometimes referred to as “beast of Chicago,” is the first publicly
Jeffrey Dahmer adds his name to the long list of killers. Just like most serial killers, he too had a rough childhood; his mother left him and he became an alcoholic at a young age. He had trouble making friends and often tried drawing attention to himself anyway possible. Later in his teens he realized he was homosexual, fantasizing himself with other men and liked to dominate. His lust became violent even at the age of 16, as he planned to knock out a male jogger and do sexual actions to his unconscious body (Jeffrey Dahmer). Although such actions were not followed through, it was the first time he felt the need to harm someone else. Later on when he was 18 he committed his first murder (Jeffrey Dahmer). He picke up a hitchhiker, Steven Hicks, and both went back to his home. From there they drank together, but when Steven wanted to leave Dahmer knocked him out with a dumbbell. Dahmer stripped Steven of his clothes and masturbated as he stood above the corpse. Dahmer continued to pursue his lust. He became familiar with gay bars, gay bathhouses, and any other means of fulfilling his fantasies of control and dominance. It wasn’t enough for Dahmer he wanted more. Dahmer told police, “I trained myself to view people as objects of pleasure instead of people”(Jeffrey Dahmer). He was self serving his pleasure by doing sexual acts to people unconscious. He continued to lure people into his home, drug them, kill the victims, and perform sexual acts. Each time became more sadistic; he would dismember, save the skulls, save parts of the body to eat, and took pictures of his victims. He was a cannibal which is different than other serial killers in the past. Fox, who has studied serial killers for eleven years, says, “ In Dahmer’s case, everything was post-mortem. In a certain way, he was merciful, because he drugged his victims. They didn’t have the same sort of terror and horror the victims of