An in depth look to the Professor and the Madman

While reading the first three chapters of The Professor and the Madman, it is clear that the novel is full of details, stories and perspectives. The Professor and the Madman is a nonfiction story that entails the making of the Oxford English Dictionary along with the journey and interactions of a Scotsman, James Murray and an American, William Minor. Minor and Murray soon become very interactive with one another and end up creating the Oxford English Dictionary, with Murray being the editor of it and Minor assisting in the writing. 

Within the first three chapters of the novel, it tells three different stories. The first one being about the murder of George Merret, who was murdered by William Minor, a mentally ill and delusional, Englishman. The murder led to Minor’s sensational trial and imprisonment in the Broadmoor Asylum, where Minor would spend the remainder of his life (Winchester, 13-19). While reading this chapter, there were many images that were formed in my mind. For example, ‘’A man shouted at him, appeared to be chasing him, was yelling furiously.’’ (Winchester, 10), gave me more of a pictorial image in my head, where I was picturing Merret running down the street, being chased, rather than an image where I’m supposed to be feeling different emotions. That type of image would come from the line ‘’Then, quite incredibly, he stopped and raised a gun, took aim, and fired. (Winchester, 10), because as I was reading that line, I could almost feel the pain that George endured in that moment. 

In the second chapter, Winchester begins to describe the details and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary along with giving us an introduction to James Murray. This chapter is very detailed, as it is giving us the specifics of Murray’s life. For example, Winchester touches on Murray’s passion for learning, ‘’He had a voracious appetite, indeed an impassioned thirst for all kinds of learning.’’ (Winchester, 33). Winchester then begins to describe the different subjects that Murray had a passion for, such as philology and linguistics. I believe that with all the specifics and different stories that are combined within just one chapter, Winchester intended to have a more mature audience, such as people over the age of 15. The novel uses complicated language and people who may not be familiar with such a detailed writing style, may not be able to fully understand and embrace the book.

Finally, the third chapter actively illustrates the journey of the war that Minor embarked on as a doctor. It is implied in this chapter that because Minor witnessed and experienced so many tragic and traumatic events, that he became mentally ill. ‘’... perhaps it was all due to the man’s exposure to war, a consequence of the horrors that he had witnessed.’’ (Winchester, 72). This chapter really provided me with an in depth look at the events of the Civil War and the many other battles that took place, such as the Wilderness battle. I was able to form images in my head and feel the emotions that Minor was feeling. I believe that Winchester chose to be so descriptive and detailed about the stories that he is telling in his novel so that readers would be able to embrace the nonfiction events that took place. Winchester uses a very formal type of writing, so that he is able to replicate the seriousness of the true events.

In conclusion, while reading the first chunk of The Professor and the Madman, I was able to interpret the story in a very serious manner, as even though I wasn’t able to make personal connections to the story, I still can understand the circumstances that took place in that time. Winchester is a very formal, detailed and personal writer and his work so far has been astounding.