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The Body Snatcher

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The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson is a classic short story from the 19th century that delves into the moral ambiguity and consequences of body snatching. The plot follows two young doctors who become entangled in a spiral of moral depravity and blackmail as they procure dead bodies for dissection. The writing style is described as eerie and atmospheric, capturing the feeling of the thriller genre effectively.

Characters:

The characters exhibit moral complexity, with Fettes experiencing a transformation while grappling with the consequences of their actions.

Writing/Prose:

The writing is atmospheric and dark, capturing a chilling essence, though it is criticized for uneven pacing and quality in some editions.

Plot/Storyline:

The narrative explores grave robbing and the ethical dilemmas faced by medical students, revealing how they descend into moral corruption.

Setting:

The setting in Victorian England enhances the story's eerie tone, focusing on graveyards and medical environments.

Pacing:

The pacing is uneven, with critics noting that it can lose reader engagement and culminates in a perplexing conclusion.
Although widely recognized as a writer of adventure fiction for boys, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) also wrote several classics of mystery, crime, and suspense fiction. The best known, of course,...

Notes:

In the 19th Century, doctors often raided graveyards for fresh corpses to study.
The story explores moral ambiguity as characters engage in illegal activities for success.
Both main characters in The Body Snatcher and The Wolf of Wall Street operate in a morally grey area.
Jordan Belfort committed stock fraud to become wealthy, while MacFarlane resorts to murder for bodies.
During Victorian England, people rarely donated their bodies to science, making corpse procurement difficult.
The connection to Jack the Ripper highlights the era's crime and body snatching issues.
The protagonist, Fettes, initially struggles with the moral implications of body snatching but eventually becomes desensitized.
The ending of the story reveals a disturbing twist involving body swapping, leaving readers confused.
The richness of Stevenson's writing captures the eerie atmosphere of graveyards and unethical medical practices.
Stevenson's health issues influenced his work, as he suffered from a lung disease and died young.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Triggers/content warnings for The Body Snatcher include themes of violence, murder, grave robbing, and body mutilation.

From The Publisher:

A well-known and often told tale of murder and grave robbing in Victorian Edinburgh, supposedly in the interests of science. With the desecration of the bodies, a worthy comeuppance follows.

'The Body Snatcher' is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies Horror series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known.

With music by Benedict Edwards.

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