Non-Fiction Critical Analysis 3: The Professor and the Madman

            In the “Professor and the Madman” by Simon Winchester, Winchester wants readers to know that people are complex, and multifaceted, and therefore, can be both professor and madman. One way he conveys this is by telling the story of Dr. William Minor. For example, he tells us how Dr. Minor was a very smart man who contributed greatly to the Oxford English Dictionary, yet he was also in an insane asylum for murdering someone. Also, Winchester delves deep into the life of Dr. Minor before he killed someone and was put into the insane asylum. Finally, he looks into the lives and reactions of the people in Dr. Minor’s life.  All of this shows how complex people really are.

            Winchester wants readers to realize how people have many layers, so it’s perfectly possible for someone to be both sane and insane. One technique Winchester uses is to quote from the log book in the insane asylum and numerous letters. For example, one such quote is “'At 10.55 am Dr. Minor came out to the bottom gate, which was locked, and he called out: 'You had better send for the Medical Officer at once! I have injured myself!''” This quote not only gives the reader insight into Dr. Minor, a man so calm even though he’d just inflicted shocking bodily harm to himself, but it also gives us insight into the reactions of the people around him, such as the man who wrote this note in shaky pencil, obviously shocked and scared. Another technique that Winchester does is use suspense. One example of this is when Winchester relates a fantastical story, written in a newspaper, about how Dr. Minor and Murray, the editor of the Oxford English dictionary, met. After a brief pause Winchester says “The story of this first meeting is, however, no more than an amusing and romantic fiction.” This suspense not only keeps readers intrigued, but also allows Winchester to reveal surprising realities about people, such as the fact that journalists, who we rely on for the truth, lie.

            All in all, I agree with Winchester that people are multi-layered and complex. For one, Dr. Minor himself is proof of this. A man who can kill someone they didn’t even know at one moment, and then contribute extensively to the Oxford English dictionary is certainly more complex than he appears. Also, for people who heard about Dr. Minor, their reactions prove this as well.  For someone to accept Dr. Minor as a friend, ignoring the fact that he murdered someone, shows true complexity. As you can see, people are truly complex creatures.