Previous
Mood
Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 10: Eliminating the Impossible
Explanation and Analysis—Cliffhangers:
Throughout the book, Grann uses cliffhangers as a stylistic motif. One example occurs at the end of Chapter 10, when White discovers that Rose Osage in fact never confessed to killing Anna:
When agents interrogated the Kaw Indian, it didn’t take much for her to crack. She admitted that Rose had never told her any such story about the killing. In fact, a strange white man had come to her house, written up the statement, and forced her to sign it, even though none of it was true. White realized that the conspirators were not only erasing evidence—they were manufacturing it.
Like other cliffhangers throughout the book, this one ties up some loose ends while introducing others. Why are the conspirators manufacturing evidence? How many people are involved, and how are they organized enough to pull off an operation like this? By ending the chapter on this unresolved note, Grann invites the reader to sit in suspense and wish for more details.
Another instance occurs at the end of Chapter 3, when Bill Smith begins to suspect that the deaths of Mollie's sisters and mother are connected to oil headrights. Chapter 11 ends with White's belief that he has a prime suspect (Bryan Burkhart), but this certainty leads to a litany of other questions Grann subsequently raises, such as who else was with Anna the night she died.
On the one hand, it might be fair to accuse Grann of creating a spectacle of the Osage murders and their investigation. After all, he is essentially asking readers to rubberneck at the scene of the crimes. However, there is another, more generous way to interpret the cliffhangers. Grann is documenting not only the murders themselves, but also his and White's twin investigations into the murders. He is also trying to describe what it has been like for the survivors of the Reign of Terror to live through unresolved investigations. By ending chapters with cliffhangers, Grann recreates the breakthroughs and frustrations that have punctuated the investigations all along. Instead of spectacle, it is possible to see Grann's book as an invitation to empathize with the people who have long been living in unresolved suspense.
