The Idea of Murder in Life and Literature with Specific Reference to T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral"

"Thou shalt not kill" is a moral imperative included as one of the Ten Commandments in the Holy Bible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou_shalt_not_kill). However, one finds both in life and literature innumerable instances wherein the commandment has been flouted. The larger question is why is mankind more inclined towards disobedience and violence? As a universal default, one notices among the most prominent of works like The Holy Bible instances as Cain murdering Abel; in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov murdering the pawnbroker; in Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murdering Duncan or in Hamlet Claudius murdering King Hamlet and so on. There have also been political assassinations as that of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, Julius Ceasar, John F. Kennedy, Mohandas K. Gandhi etc. In fact, the term "Murder" or "unnatural Death" has had a wide array of symbolic implications ranging from retreat, escape, alienation or transcendence. But, quintessentially one needs to examine and understand all the factors including the psychological reasons behind an individual's desire to take the ultimate step of annihilating someone else's life. Admittedly, the core reason behind seeking to annihilate the ultimate principle - 'life' - of our 'very existence' is vengeance at the material level. It could be for material gains or personal prejudice. However there are also psychological reasons as childhood abuse etc. Interestingly the idea of murder seeks a kind of extermination for personal or social reasons. In other words, the act of killing aims to bring about death not only about the individual but also about effacing the idea of the individual. Hatred, contempt, envy, pride, greed, lust are vices that push a person to murder. Therefore, since the birth of civilization, human consciousness has reflected upon questions as the meaning of existence; whether death is the end of life; does life transcend death; does death imply a finality of sorts. Modern writers too have looked upon death as the ultimate existential dilemma. This paper, thus, proposes, to develop upon the very concept of "murder" and its multifarious ramifications with special reference to Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral.

Keywords: Murder, Eliot, Cathedra