The writing style of David Grann is very descriptive. When we meet a new character, Grann describes every aspect of these characters past and present lives. For example, in chapter 3 of Killers of the flower moon, we meet Ernest Burkhart’s uncle, William Hale. Grann writes, “Hale, who had an owlish face, stiff black hair, and small alert eyes set in shaded hollows, had settled on the reservations nearly two decades earlier. Like a real-life version of Faulkner’s Thomas Sutpen, he seemed to come out of nowhere- a man with no known past. Arriving in the territory with a little more than the clothes on his back and a worn old testament, he embarked on what a person who knew him well called a “fight for life and fortune” in a “raw state of civilization””. (pg. 28 P.3) David Grann has set the picture for what William Hale looks like but has also depicted him as a determined and hard-working man, as seen from the quote he uses in this text. The “fight for life and fortune” means that Hale is doing all he can to survive and eventually be successful in life. With the input of bombastic diction, Grann is able to set a reverent tone towards Hale because he is a man dedicated to his work and working towards a goal he has for his life of being wealthy and well respected in the reservations. -Gabriel Corral
In National Bestseller, Killers of the Flower Moon, David Gram's pensive opening sets the tone for the rest of the chapter and hints at events that are to come. In many areas of the novel, Gram relates the harsh occurrences of nature to the very real and violent cases of the Osage Murders. This is how the reader is introduced into Gram's novel. In the first paragraph of the first chapter of the book, Gram writes of the " millions of tiny flowers spread over blackjack hills"(Gram pg1) and how the "taller plants...creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water"(Gram pg1). In the context of the novel and read under the lens of metaphor, the flowers are obviously the Osage people themselves and the plants that kill them the unseen force that deprives them of safety and happiness. Within this metaphor, Gram's diction surrounding the two kinds of plants paint the separation between the innocent floral "beauties" and the plants that rise under the "unnervingly large moon" and break the "necks" of the tiny flowers, showing the personification of these flora. Gram has a sort of keenness in using expressive metaphors and hyperbole to describe events in the novel or to characterize the people in this novel. However, this trait is not overbearing and much like a journalist, Gram takes into consideration the informational viewpoint of all parties and is sure to include any important background information the reader can benefit from. The author's third person limited point of view allows them to recount quotes from these parties, as shown in his quotation from John Joseph Mathews in the first paragraph, as he stated,"(the) gods had left confetti". Mathew's statement further emphasizes Gram's portrayal of the beauty the flowers once had before the time of the " flower-killing moon"(Gram 1). The author then gives the metaphors, quotes, and retellings meaning by tying it in to the novel, which he often does through weaving these statements into the main story. Here Gram does this with the simple statement of :"This is why the Osage refer to May as the time of the flower-killing moon"(Gram 1). By giving this explanation to the descriptions above it, it gives reason as to why the novel is named Killers of the Flower Moon.
In Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, i noticed that his writing is very factual and keeps a neutral perspective as he goes on to explain the Osage Reign of Terror. We can very clearly see his writing style when he describes private detectives and the public's perplexed feeling of them he says, “[private detectives] were untrained and unregulated and often had criminal records themselves. In 1850, Allan Pinkerton founded the first American private detective agency; in advertisements, the company’s motto, “We Never Sleep,” was inscribed under a large, unblinking, Masonic-like eye, which gave rise to the term “private eye.” In a manual of general principles and rules that served as a blueprint for the industry, Pinkerton admitted that the detective must at times “depart from the strict line of truth” and “resort to deception.” Yet even many people who despised the profession deemed it a necessary evil. As one private eye put it, he might be a “miserable snake,” but he was also “the silent, secret, and effective Avenger of the outraged Majesty of the Law when everything else fails” (p.62). We can see how Grann does not fail to let any fact untold when trying to give the reader information surrounding the complex murders of the Osage. As a journalist Grann has the responsibility of telling his readers all sides to the story and Grann makes sure to give the most accurate information he finds. All in all, Grann keeps up a logos appeal by making sure that his writing is accurate about the investigation and takes a neutral stand on the matter giving it an objective tone. -Joline Mendez
In Killers of the Sunflower Moon, David Grann uses a very unbiased style of writing that leaves the reader with no guidance for judgement. It is up to the reader, without the assistance of the author, to determine the villains and victims of the novel. Using the un-choosing diction, as well as the interrogative dialogue from detectives, Grann creates a tone of authority. The reader feels as if they are reading a police report of some sort that has been clearly reviewed and written with importance. The author creates this effect when he writes, "On January 15, 1926, the Society of Oklahoma Indians issued a resolution that said"(214 P1). Grann uses exact dates and proper names and capitalization to create the feeling of that what the reader is reading has urgency; every detail has a purpose no matter how minuscule. Another example is the way Grann includes the dialogue of interrogations, "Yes I gave her some... For what?...For sugar diabetes"(208 P6) to make sure the reader has all the facts, names, dates, and all, so they can follow along as if they were there when the case of the Osage Murders was unfolding. David Grann also uses personal statement and witness accounts to add a tone of intimacy and make every loss of life and crime personal, "Hale kept my husband drunk...ask him to sell his inherited shares...Joe always refused...Well, Hale got the land"(213 P1). The reader might not know who Joe was but can tell that Hale made it his mission to steal from him and when the wife of Joe, the person retelling the account, finally reveals that Hale somehow succeeded in doing just that, the reader feels just as betrayed as the wife. -Eleazar I. Mora
In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann displays the evidence by incorporating into the separated perspective of 3 characters to bring mystery into the murders of the Osage killings. This creates a tense atmosphere around the characters, but also builds up into what led the to the creation of the FBI and the aftermath of the incident. "Perhaps they discounted her because of prejudice-because she was an Osage and a woman" (Grann 33). This real life experience shows the racism that Mollie faced and was prominent back in the day which was a problem when trying to solve the crime. This adds another problem that the tribe deals with since they do not gain sympathizers from the majority white Americans and it makes it feel like the Osages are alone. "From the moment he walked out of Hoover's office, he was a marked man" (Grann 121). Tom White is shown to be diligent in his work and even if there is a target on his back, he carries on; however, it also means that he is in danger for being involved in the investigation. This is the last line of the chapter which Grann uses to amplify the uneasiness around the Osage and how risky the whole situation is. ''There were a lot more murders during the Reign of Terror than people know about.A lot more" (Grann 291). This adds a terrifying discovery and the darker side of the Osage killings which did not gained a lot of attention. This adds interest but also a sad twist to the killings. Overall, this crime is summed up by Mary Jo Webb,"This land is saturated with blood" (Grann 316) even with it being solved, it doesn't remove the fact that their family and friends died from the greed of money and they will never forget their history. Grann's third person perspective adds to the "characters" testimony and it feels as if the readers were there -Catherine Guzman
In David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Grann’s writing style appears to be a combination of facts and personal remarks, adding depth and humanity to the protagonists amidst a sea of facts and history. While he incorporates many facts, such as background information on historical figures and dates of events, his writing also seems to have a personal undertone; he adds postulations regarding the figures he is mentioning, going beyond their actions and into their motivations. His implementation of objective diction is clearly present in his re-telling of events, making it clear that he values authenticity in his account of such a devastating case in history. However, he also uses skeptical diction, almost as if he were himself attempting to understand these long- forgotten names and give them life and complexity. Grann goes beyond the stating of the facts, he uses diction that indicates not only a desire to bring history to light, but to bring it to life, adding hints of curious diction in between facts. This diction adds a mysterious tone to a foundational tone of objectivity created by the precision-focused diction found in his factual report. In an excerpt from the first paragraph of page 106, David Grann embodies this style through the use of an agent’s quote about another character. He uses sources to provide details on the person he is focusing on, as shown in the excerpt, “as one agent said, had a ‘bullet-spattered career’ “. Grann compiles information on these people of interest by piecing together stories and evidence, forging a presentable perspective. Additionally, as previously mentioned, Grann inputs his own view of the discussed person in between his presentation of evidence, adding to the previous account, “It was as if he were afraid of his own dark instincts”. In conclusion, David Grann brings a sophisticated, informational style in his writing, while also humanizing history’s figures in a subtle input of his own perspective amongst the complication of accounts that revive this sorrowful history.
In killers of the flower moon, Grann uses a lot of historical research to make the reader fell like they are in the 1920-1930 . He does a good job with researching, he takes the book to presence time to talk to the several descendent of the victims of the Osage murder. In chapter four Laura dad tells her “That's why we're here, Laura. White people are going to settle all this country, and we get the best land because we get here first and take our pick.” “The world’s richest people per capita were becoming the world’s most murdered.” The osage quickly became targets of many white people who were jealous of their wealth and the type of rights they had since they were assured they would remain in their home forever but one by one, the Osage began to be killed in a mysterious way making the book have a emotionally devastating tone Gabriela Pineda-Garfias
In Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, David Grann portrays fact-based diction impacting a empathetic tone where the FBI do not take into consideration of digging into cases of the murders of the Osage Indians. As a journalist, he takes in "report[s]" by agents that describe "a doctor examin[ing the Indian]" but, "after the doctor's departure the [killers] would inject an enormous amount of morphine under the armpit of the drunken Indian, which would result in his death"(Grann 307).Bringing factual evidence indicates the ruthlessness of the murders that culprits have committed all for benefits of wealth demonstrating David Grann's empathetic tone of wanting to understand what truthfully happened in the history of the Osage Reign of Terror wanting to bring justice to all the lost but is unable to. As he wraps around the information of the "Osage death toll"(Grann 307), the evidence is dramatically enlarged making his writing style to be genuine and reasonable. -Kallista Ly
In the Killers of the Moon Flower, David Grann's writing style could be described as informative with the continuous added context to allow the readers to understand info needed to properly explain the main issues of the Osage murders. More specifically, Grann quotes from a witness of Osage delegates confronting the commissioner of Indian Affairs to bring up the topic of how the the Osage tribe were being starved and treated "like dogs" (Grann 46) by and due to the U.S governments neglecting or more specifically avoidance of paying the tribes annuity payments. His use of pedantic like diction adds a charm to his writing style as he is able to keep the readers attention with haunting imagery through use of metaphors and hyperboles. To describe the effects of starvation on the Osage tribe, Grann writes how their bones looked "as if they might break through their skin" (Grann 46) which paints an image of how skeletal the tribe members must have looked. His method in using such figurative language allows him to use a dismal tone to emphasize the cruelty of the government's treatment to the Osage tribe, especially in writing how the Osage chief confronts the commissioner. In how the Osage chief looked "like primitive god of the dark forest" and "as if he were leading a war party" (Grann 47), Grann illustrates how serious the chief confronts the issue of the U.S. government's lack of reverence towards the Osage and their choice to keep their traditions and cultures instead of converting towards the white man's way. With how exaggerated Grann describes the chief, though it seems biased and opinionative, he proves his evidence as facts of an actual experience that happened to allow the readers to be taken away with the melancholy-like mood. -Nayeli Martinez
David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a sorrowful report on the period of bloodshed and corruption known as the “Reign of Terror”. Its victims were mainly the Osage, targeted by white officials and politicians for their head rights to oil money. His motivation for writing this text is to bring awareness, making history known as a way to bring closure and honor the memories of the victims. Grann wants to make sure that the stories of those who lost their lives to greed and racial injustice are not forgotten or further hidden by ignorance. His intent is to educate the people of today on the wrongdoings of the people of the past, uncovering a dark period in humanity’s history characterized for its very lack of humanity. David Grann’s main argument is that so much harm has been done to the Osage, not just through direct acts such as murder, but also through corrupt compliance. This corruption was both enabled by and based off of racial injustices, prolonging the Reign of Terror. His argument is that greed and white supremacy motivated people such as Hale to murder the Osage, and also allowed these acts to go unpunished. He strives to inform the public of this obscured case in history, and show them that this tragedy still affects the present . He shows us that much of history is unknown, and that it is our responsibility to speak for those who no longer have a voice to tell us their stories themselves. The reader should learn from David Grann’s motivations and arguments. They should honor the victims through memory, by not turning their backs on them as history has done. They should know that the order that we see today, in regards to law enforcement, was not always in place. This was not only due to the time period, but also to people’s deliberate efforts to obstruct justice. In conclusion, the reader should be left with a sense of sorrow for the past, an appreciation for the present, and knowledge to build a better future.
David Grann’s exigency for writing his national bestseller Killers of the Flower Moon is to tell the story of the tragic losses that many native American tribes, mainly the Osage tribe, endured during the events leading up to the trail of tears and after. More specifically, the Osage murders. Grann writes in the perspectives of many different characters to highlight the experiences that many people went through whether it was members of the Osage tribe or the investigators and police officers. Grann writes about these events to remind today’s society what really happened in the past as America became a nation and to create a sense of remembrance for the ones that were lost in these tragic times. Grann believes that we must know how history played out and the mistakes that were made to ensure that history does not repeat itself, because as time goes on, the results could be worse than in the 19th century. He wanted to tell us as readers that we should not forget what happened in American history and that the creation of our country did not solely consist of logical and humane actions. America did and still does commit a great deal of negativity that impacts its own citizens and even other countries. This style of writing gives us as readers the chance to put ourselves in the shoes of these people who actually existed. As a reader the big takeaway I think I would take from this book is that people can always forgive but it is hard to forget in tragic events. What we should focus on as a society is bettering ourselves as a whole and treat everyone with equality to ensure that absolutely nothing as tragic as these murders or the trail of tears happens in our country or in any country for that matter. Grann makes a subtle point in the book that greed was a major factor in these events and that same greed is still represented in our society today, however, it has not come to genocide much like in the 18th and 19th centuries.
David Grann spins a tale of greed and betrayal in his novel, Killers of the Flower Moon, in scrutinizing detail. The grounds on which he writes the novel are explained in the end of the story, following through on his distinct arrangement of information that gives background first and inevitably ties it in with the future. David Grann wrote this novel as both a warning and a way to bring awareness to the history of the Osage Reign of Terror. Viewed as a warning the novel, on many occasions, divulges in the theme of corruption and greed, how " badness could take hold of anyone" (149). This recurring subject acts as a warning to modern audiences, informing them of true evils to prevent them from happening again. Such is the case with corrupted systems still lingering in today's modern world that echo those in the novel. David Grann also sympathizes deeply with the Osage people and how the murders have haunted them generations after the fact. In the last three chapters there is a sense of connection Grann feels towards the cases and the people around him, which in turn leads him to the original Oklahoma plains to investigate and eventually write this novel to bring awareness under the truth seeking duty of a reporter. As Grann had stated," I never read about the murders in any books, it was as if these crimes had been excised from history" (262). His discovery of the Osages somber take leads him to become obsessed in trying "to fill in the gaps"(263) of previous investigations. David Grann's combined eagerness for the truth and empathy towards the Osage people is what eventually what leads to his motivation for creating this text, to raise awareness of these gruesome murders so that they won't be "erased from history"(254).
David Grann's determination to write this novel, Killers of the Flower Moon, was to bring back the past to future generations. He does not want a piece of injustice in the past American history to be forgotten, but he wants the novel to be used as a helping handing and a voice for people against injustice and corruption. The Osage Reign of Terror was not just one simple incident in the past, but the incident was traumatic for the Osage Indian's that were deceived and murdered by other individuals that were influenced by greed or wealth that the Osage Indian's held. Grann encourages that this incident does not get ignored and forgotten because it will help teach future generations know how to stay away from corruption and to help assist people to raise their voices against injustice when need to be heard. Furthermore, the leading arguement Grann sets through his novel is that Osage Indian's should be remembered through teachings of them in school history or reading classes to remember what they have been through as his evidence through investigating can encourage individuals to not forget what happened in past events and to continue to understand many others history. Even though Grann hopes for his novel to reach schools, he also has more arguements throughout his novel believing that people should take into consideration of bringing up these incidents that are forgotten and that involve injustice for having cases that were not initially solved to understand the primary cause of these many crimes. While he brings back the past to the future, he guides the reader through continuous investigation and facts about what actually happened making the reader feel as if something should have been done. As a reader, his novel shows corruption should be more spoken about how to confine it to a lower level where injustice is not happening most of the time, and he makes the novel dramatic enough making me furious at the event of people being persuaded by greed for wealth. Although I do not necessarily pay much attention to history as others do, I have an urge to want to raise my voice at the cruelty and trickery that some parts of history portray and to want to let others know and put a conlusion on what individuals are experiencing from trickery that leads to the injustice of corruption.
David Grann’s need to write this book was to tell the story of the solving of rich Osage murders and give respect to those that were affected in the travesty of the “Reign of Terror”. This book goes in depth to how the rich Osage were tormented by white politicians who feigned being there allies. Grann’s book goes back to the investigation and retells every detail of the murders which show that all Grann wants to do is give light to the truth. He shows the injustices that happened to the Osage and the government's lack of motivation to solve it until the creation of the FBI. Throughout the book we see many examples of prejudice that most definitely did not help the Osage tribe. Since the beginning the Osages freedom was in the hands of white men and there wasn't much governmental regulation in their favor. Forced to move to Oklahoma to striking the great fortune of oil to being seen as unfit to handle their own financials so were put in the hands of the responsible whites, the Osage tribe has had their fair share of discrimination. Grann successfully showed how in the beginning of the investigation, primarily run by whites, wasn’t successful in finding the responsible party until it becomes a showcase to justify the worth of the FBI. Even when the investigation was closed many Osage murders remained unsolved, but authorities insisted they had the culprit in order to not stain the FBI’s reputation. Racism was one of the themes encountered in this book and Grann shows how this was a big problem in the solving of the Osage murders. In all, the reader can learn from this book that justice is not black and white, and it continuously clashes with the idea of freedom. We see how greed and prejudice go hand in hand in this case and it continues to prevail in our society. In conclusion we must honor the murdered by not letting this information get lost in history and continue to inform future generation.
The book, Killers of the Flower Moon, is David Grann’s own contribution to reviving history being forcibly forgotten. With how the Reign of Terror seems to be almost entirely unknown to the present public due to being hidden away to save the FBI’s reputation, it is also such a distinct part of the 1920s (and the main timeframe of the first two sections of the book) that is completely overwhelmed by the currently taught history and just the lack of ability to truly explain the largely facilitated plot. Knowing this, Grann writes to have these lost stories and articles of the cruelty against the Osage be known, even continuously quoting the multiple sources he’s found throughout the book to prove that the series of events is true. This case could correlate to similar cases of racial injustice now in the modern twenty-first century, yet has never truly been known to do such. Grann’s point of writing the Osage murder case emphasizes the lack of reliability the U.S government holds in putting their citizens as a priority against dangers within their own homeland. This book was not only a search for an answer to his own curiosity about the mystery of the unknown Osage murders, but Grann uses his book to expand the concept of being curious by wanting to push his readers to be suspicious of characters and beings with an alarming amount of authority and power. Being curious can be an advantage to those who have long been oppressed to allow their adversities to be heard. Grann’s main take away for his readers would be that history is full of tragedies being erased to ignore the failures of our nation’s government to serve their citizens. Curiosity could be the initiative to end the cycle of victims having to suffer alone because of the lack of acknowledgment of said suffering, which includes memories and stories of just how inhumane greedy authority can be.
David Grann’s,“ Killers of The Flower Moon ” has many possible motives. An obvious one being the desire to educate the reader of the horrible crimes that were committed against the Osage Indians of Oklahoma at the turn of the 20th century, but underneath this clear cut motive lies another one that is not taught as easily. Grann spends about two-thirds of the book describing in marvelous detail the tragedy that is the Osage Murders, educating the reader of its heroes and villains, Grann’s knack for intricate details make for a thrilling read that leaves the audience with a desire to hurry and finish the book so their curiosity can be satisfied. Grann’s diction makes education seem like the only real exigency for writing the book.The whole time the reader hopes that by the end of the book the murderers and assassins will be brought to justice and will finish their read with a happy ending. In a way, the book does end this way. Grann finishes those first two-thirds by conveying that the mastermind behind the Osage Murders, William Hale, is arrested and spent the better part of his senior years behind bars. Although this ending might satisfy the moviegoer inside the reader, this book is about history and the reality behind this particular corner of American history is rather grim.The last third of the text is where the second, more important, motive is revealed. Grann goes onto reveal that although Hale might have been responsible for most of the murders, he was not an anomaly. The final third of the book picks up many decades later and in the 21st century where a journalist uncovers that many of the Osage Indians that did not die at the hand of Hale’s schemes, succumbed to the treachery of other greedy white men and women. The reader learns of many cases of Osage Indians dying at the hands of their wives and husbands, their supposed “guardians’’ meant to help with finances, and other forms of betrayal from people who were supposed to help them. The worst of it all being that many deaths were written up as “natural causes” and were not investigated; leaving relatives and descendants mourning without answers and having to live knowing the killers of their family were never brought to justice. The argument that Grann builds up to is that these Osage Indians are only an example of the unfair justice system in the United States. The reader should take away from this book that justice itself may be blind, but the people meant to execute and enforce it, are not.
17 comments:
The writing style of David Grann is very descriptive. When we meet a new character, Grann describes every aspect of these characters past and present lives. For example, in chapter 3 of Killers of the flower moon, we meet Ernest Burkhart’s uncle, William Hale. Grann writes, “Hale, who had an owlish face, stiff black hair, and small alert eyes set in shaded hollows, had settled on the reservations nearly two decades earlier. Like a real-life version of Faulkner’s Thomas Sutpen, he seemed to come out of nowhere- a man with no known past. Arriving in the territory with a little more than the clothes on his back and a worn old testament, he embarked on what a person who knew him well called a “fight for life and fortune” in a “raw state of civilization””. (pg. 28 P.3) David Grann has set the picture for what William Hale looks like but has also depicted him as a determined and hard-working man, as seen from the quote he uses in this text. The “fight for life and fortune” means that Hale is doing all he can to survive and eventually be successful in life. With the input of bombastic diction, Grann is able to set a reverent tone towards Hale because he is a man dedicated to his work and working towards a goal he has for his life of being wealthy and well respected in the reservations.
-Gabriel Corral
In National Bestseller, Killers of the Flower Moon, David Gram's pensive opening sets the tone for the rest of the chapter and hints at events that are to come. In many areas of the novel, Gram relates the harsh occurrences of nature to the very real and violent cases of the Osage Murders. This is how the reader is introduced into Gram's novel. In the first paragraph of the first chapter of the book, Gram writes of the " millions of tiny flowers spread over blackjack hills"(Gram pg1) and how the "taller plants...creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water"(Gram pg1). In the context of the novel and read under the lens of metaphor, the flowers are obviously the Osage people themselves and the plants that kill them the unseen force that deprives them of safety and happiness. Within this metaphor, Gram's diction surrounding the two kinds of plants paint the separation between the innocent floral "beauties" and the plants that rise under the "unnervingly large moon" and break the "necks" of the tiny flowers, showing the personification of these flora. Gram has a sort of keenness in using expressive metaphors and hyperbole to describe events in the novel or to characterize the people in this novel. However, this trait is not overbearing and much like a journalist, Gram takes into consideration the informational viewpoint of all parties and is sure to include any important background information the reader can benefit from. The author's third person limited point of view allows them to recount quotes from these parties, as shown in his quotation from John Joseph Mathews in the first paragraph, as he stated,"(the) gods had left confetti". Mathew's statement further emphasizes Gram's portrayal of the beauty the flowers once had before the time of the " flower-killing moon"(Gram 1). The author then gives the metaphors, quotes, and retellings meaning by tying it in to the novel, which he often does through weaving these statements into the main story. Here Gram does this with the simple statement of :"This is why the Osage refer to May as the time of the flower-killing moon"(Gram 1). By giving this explanation to the descriptions above it, it gives reason as to why the novel is named Killers of the Flower Moon.
-Crystal Melendez
In Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, i noticed that his writing is very factual and keeps a neutral perspective as he goes on to explain the Osage Reign of Terror. We can very clearly see his writing style when he describes private detectives and the public's perplexed feeling of them he says, “[private detectives] were untrained and unregulated and often had criminal records themselves. In 1850, Allan Pinkerton founded the first American private detective agency; in advertisements, the company’s motto, “We Never Sleep,” was inscribed under a large, unblinking, Masonic-like eye, which gave rise to the term “private eye.” In a manual of general principles and rules that served as a blueprint for the industry, Pinkerton admitted that the detective must at times “depart from the strict line of truth” and “resort to deception.” Yet even many people who despised the profession deemed it a necessary evil. As one private eye put it, he might be a “miserable snake,” but he was also “the silent, secret, and effective Avenger of the outraged Majesty of the Law when everything else fails” (p.62). We can see how Grann does not fail to let any fact untold when trying to give the reader information surrounding the complex murders of the Osage. As a journalist Grann has the responsibility of telling his readers all sides to the story and Grann makes sure to give the most accurate information he finds. All in all, Grann keeps up a logos appeal by making sure that his writing is accurate about the investigation and takes a neutral stand on the matter giving it an objective tone.
-Joline Mendez
In Killers of the Sunflower Moon, David Grann uses a very unbiased style of writing that leaves the reader with no guidance for judgement. It is up to the reader, without the assistance of the author, to determine the villains and victims of the novel. Using the un-choosing diction, as well as the interrogative dialogue from detectives, Grann creates a tone of authority. The reader feels as if they are reading a police report of some sort that has been clearly reviewed and written with importance. The author creates this effect when he writes, "On January 15, 1926, the Society of Oklahoma Indians issued a resolution that said"(214 P1). Grann uses exact dates and proper names and capitalization to create the feeling of that what the reader is reading has urgency; every detail has a purpose no matter how minuscule. Another example is the way Grann includes the dialogue of interrogations, "Yes I gave her some... For what?...For sugar diabetes"(208 P6) to make sure the reader has all the facts, names, dates, and all, so they can follow along as if they were there when the case of the Osage Murders was unfolding. David Grann also uses personal statement and witness accounts to add a tone of intimacy and make every loss of life and crime personal, "Hale kept my husband drunk...ask him to sell his inherited shares...Joe always refused...Well, Hale got the land"(213 P1). The reader might not know who Joe was but can tell that Hale made it his mission to steal from him and when the wife of Joe, the person retelling the account, finally reveals that Hale somehow succeeded in doing just that, the reader feels just as betrayed as the wife.
-Eleazar I. Mora
In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann displays the evidence by incorporating into the separated perspective of 3 characters to bring mystery into the murders of the Osage killings. This creates a tense atmosphere around the characters, but also builds up into what led the to the creation of the FBI and the aftermath of the incident. "Perhaps they discounted her because of prejudice-because she was an Osage and a woman" (Grann 33). This real life experience shows the racism that Mollie faced and was prominent back in the day which was a problem when trying to solve the crime. This adds another problem that the tribe deals with since they do not gain sympathizers from the majority white Americans and it makes it feel like the Osages are alone. "From the moment he walked out of Hoover's office, he was a marked man" (Grann 121). Tom White is shown to be diligent in his work and even if there is a target on his back, he carries on; however, it also means that he is in danger for being involved in the investigation. This is the last line of the chapter which Grann uses to amplify the uneasiness around the Osage and how risky the whole situation is. ''There were a lot more murders during the Reign of Terror than people know about.A lot more" (Grann 291). This adds a terrifying discovery and the darker side of the Osage killings which did not gained a lot of attention. This adds interest but also a sad twist to the killings. Overall, this crime is summed up by Mary Jo Webb,"This land is saturated with blood" (Grann 316) even with it being solved, it doesn't remove the fact that their family and friends died from the greed of money and they will never forget their history. Grann's third person perspective adds to the "characters" testimony and it feels as if the readers were there
-Catherine Guzman
In David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Grann’s writing style appears to be a combination of facts and personal remarks, adding depth and humanity to the protagonists amidst a sea of facts and history. While he incorporates many facts, such as background information on historical figures and dates of events, his writing also seems to have a personal undertone; he adds postulations regarding the figures he is mentioning, going beyond their actions and into their motivations. His implementation of objective diction is clearly present in his re-telling of events, making it clear that he values authenticity in his account of such a devastating case in history. However, he also uses skeptical diction, almost as if he were himself attempting to understand these long- forgotten names and give them life and complexity. Grann goes beyond the stating of the facts, he uses diction that indicates not only a desire to bring history to light, but to bring it to life, adding hints of curious diction in between facts. This diction adds a mysterious tone to a foundational tone of objectivity created by the precision-focused diction found in his factual report. In an excerpt from the first paragraph of page 106, David Grann embodies this style through the use of an agent’s quote about another character. He uses sources to provide details on the person he is focusing on, as shown in the excerpt, “as one agent said, had a ‘bullet-spattered career’ “. Grann compiles information on these people of interest by piecing together stories and evidence, forging a presentable perspective. Additionally, as previously mentioned, Grann inputs his own view of the discussed person in between his presentation of evidence, adding to the previous account, “It was as if he were afraid of his own dark instincts”. In conclusion, David Grann brings a sophisticated, informational style in his writing, while also humanizing history’s figures in a subtle input of his own perspective amongst the complication of accounts that revive this sorrowful history.
—Dayan Berrones
In killers of the flower moon, Grann uses a lot of historical research to make the reader fell like they are in the 1920-1930 . He does a good job with researching, he takes the book to presence time to talk to the several descendent of the victims of the Osage murder. In chapter four Laura dad tells her “That's why we're here, Laura. White people are going to settle all this country, and we get the best land because we get here first and take our pick.” “The world’s richest people per capita were becoming the world’s most murdered.” The osage quickly became targets of many white people who were jealous of their wealth and the type of rights they had since they were assured they would remain in their home forever but one by one, the Osage began to be killed in a mysterious way making the book have a emotionally devastating tone
Gabriela Pineda-Garfias
In Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, David Grann portrays fact-based diction impacting a empathetic tone where the FBI do not take into consideration of digging into cases of the murders of the Osage Indians. As a journalist, he takes in "report[s]" by agents that describe "a doctor examin[ing the Indian]" but, "after the doctor's departure the [killers] would inject an enormous amount of morphine under the armpit of the drunken Indian, which would result in his death"(Grann 307).Bringing factual evidence indicates the ruthlessness of the murders that culprits have committed all for benefits of wealth demonstrating David Grann's empathetic tone of wanting to understand what truthfully happened in the history of the Osage Reign of Terror wanting to bring justice to all the lost but is unable to. As he wraps around the information of the "Osage death toll"(Grann 307), the evidence is dramatically enlarged making his writing style to be genuine and reasonable.
-Kallista Ly
In the Killers of the Moon Flower, David Grann's writing style could be described as informative with the continuous added context to allow the readers to understand info needed to properly explain the main issues of the Osage murders. More specifically, Grann quotes from a witness of Osage delegates confronting the commissioner of Indian Affairs to bring up the topic of how the the Osage tribe were being starved and treated "like dogs" (Grann 46) by and due to the U.S governments neglecting or more specifically avoidance of paying the tribes annuity payments. His use of pedantic like diction adds a charm to his writing style as he is able to keep the readers attention with haunting imagery through use of metaphors and hyperboles. To describe the effects of starvation on the Osage tribe, Grann writes how their bones looked "as if they might break through their skin" (Grann 46) which paints an image of how skeletal the tribe members must have looked. His method in using such figurative language allows him to use a dismal tone to emphasize the cruelty of the government's treatment to the Osage tribe, especially in writing how the Osage chief confronts the commissioner. In how the Osage chief looked "like primitive god of the dark forest" and "as if he were leading a war party" (Grann 47), Grann illustrates how serious the chief confronts the issue of the U.S. government's lack of reverence towards the Osage and their choice to keep their traditions and cultures instead of converting towards the white man's way. With how exaggerated Grann describes the chief, though it seems biased and opinionative, he proves his evidence as facts of an actual experience that happened to allow the readers to be taken away with the melancholy-like mood.
-Nayeli Martinez
David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a sorrowful report on the period of bloodshed and corruption known as the “Reign of Terror”. Its victims were mainly the Osage, targeted by white officials and politicians for their head rights to oil money. His motivation for writing this text is to bring awareness, making history known as a way to bring closure and honor the memories of the victims. Grann wants to make sure that the stories of those who lost their lives to greed and racial injustice are not forgotten or further hidden by ignorance. His intent is to educate the people of today on the wrongdoings of the people of the past, uncovering a dark period in humanity’s history characterized for its very lack of humanity.
David Grann’s main argument is that so much harm has been done to the Osage, not just through direct acts such as murder, but also through corrupt compliance. This corruption was both enabled by and based off of racial injustices, prolonging the Reign of Terror. His argument is that greed and white supremacy motivated people such as Hale to murder the Osage, and also allowed these acts to go unpunished. He strives to inform the public of this obscured case in history, and show them that this tragedy still affects the present . He shows us that much of history is unknown, and that it is our responsibility to speak for those who no longer have a voice to tell us their stories themselves.
The reader should learn from David Grann’s motivations and arguments. They should honor the victims through memory, by not turning their backs on them as history has done. They should know that the order that we see today, in regards to law enforcement, was not always in place. This was not only due to the time period, but also to people’s deliberate efforts to obstruct justice. In conclusion, the reader should be left with a sense of sorrow for the past, an appreciation for the present, and knowledge to build a better future.
David Grann’s exigency for writing his national bestseller Killers of the Flower Moon is to tell the story of the tragic losses that many native American tribes, mainly the Osage tribe, endured during the events leading up to the trail of tears and after. More specifically, the Osage murders. Grann writes in the perspectives of many different characters to highlight the experiences that many people went through whether it was members of the Osage tribe or the investigators and police officers. Grann writes about these events to remind today’s society what really happened in the past as America became a nation and to create a sense of remembrance for the ones that were lost in these tragic times. Grann believes that we must know how history played out and the mistakes that were made to ensure that history does not repeat itself, because as time goes on, the results could be worse than in the 19th century. He wanted to tell us as readers that we should not forget what happened in American history and that the creation of our country did not solely consist of logical and humane actions. America did and still does commit a great deal of negativity that impacts its own citizens and even other countries. This style of writing gives us as readers the chance to put ourselves in the shoes of these people who actually existed. As a reader the big takeaway I think I would take from this book is that people can always forgive but it is hard to forget in tragic events. What we should focus on as a society is bettering ourselves as a whole and treat everyone with equality to ensure that absolutely nothing as tragic as these murders or the trail of tears happens in our country or in any country for that matter. Grann makes a subtle point in the book that greed was a major factor in these events and that same greed is still represented in our society today, however, it has not come to genocide much like in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Crystal Melendez
David Grann spins a tale of greed and betrayal in his novel, Killers of the Flower Moon, in scrutinizing detail. The grounds on which he writes the novel are explained in the end of the story, following through on his distinct arrangement of information that gives background first and inevitably ties it in with the future. David Grann wrote this novel as both a warning and a way to bring awareness to the history of the Osage Reign of Terror. Viewed as a warning the novel, on many occasions, divulges in the theme of corruption and greed, how " badness could take hold of anyone" (149). This recurring subject acts as a warning to modern audiences, informing them of true evils to prevent them from happening again. Such is the case with corrupted systems still lingering in today's modern world that echo those in the novel. David Grann also sympathizes deeply with the Osage people and how the murders have haunted them generations after the fact. In the last three chapters there is a sense of connection Grann feels towards the cases and the people around him, which in turn leads him to the original Oklahoma plains to investigate and eventually write this novel to bring awareness under the truth seeking duty of a reporter. As Grann had stated," I never read about the murders in any books, it was as if these crimes had been excised from history" (262). His discovery of the Osages somber take leads him to become obsessed in trying "to fill in the gaps"(263) of previous investigations.
David Grann's combined eagerness for the truth and empathy towards the Osage people is what eventually what leads to his motivation for creating this text, to raise awareness of these gruesome murders so that they won't be "erased from history"(254).
David Grann's determination to write this novel, Killers of the Flower Moon, was to bring back the past to future generations. He does not want a piece of injustice in the past American history to be forgotten, but he wants the novel to be used as a helping handing and a voice for people against injustice and corruption. The Osage Reign of Terror was not just one simple incident in the past, but the incident was traumatic for the Osage Indian's that were deceived and murdered by other individuals that were influenced by greed or wealth that the Osage Indian's held. Grann encourages that this incident does not get ignored and forgotten because it will help teach future generations know how to stay away from corruption and to help assist people to raise their voices against injustice when need to be heard.
Furthermore, the leading arguement Grann sets through his novel is that Osage Indian's should be remembered through teachings of them in school history or reading classes to remember what they have been through as his evidence through investigating can encourage individuals to not forget what happened in past events and to continue to understand many others history. Even though Grann hopes for his novel to reach schools, he also has more arguements throughout his novel believing that people should take into consideration of bringing up these incidents that are forgotten and that involve injustice for having cases that were not initially solved to understand the primary cause of these many crimes.
While he brings back the past to the future, he guides the reader through continuous investigation and facts about what actually happened making the reader feel as if something should have been done. As a reader, his novel shows corruption should be more spoken about how to confine it to a lower level where injustice is not happening most of the time, and he makes the novel dramatic enough making me furious at the event of people being persuaded by greed for wealth. Although I do not necessarily pay much attention to history as others do, I have an urge to want to raise my voice at the cruelty and trickery that some parts of history portray and to want to let others know and put a conlusion on what individuals are experiencing from trickery that leads to the injustice of corruption.
David Grann’s need to write this book was to tell the story of the solving of rich Osage murders and give respect to those that were affected in the travesty of the “Reign of Terror”. This book goes in depth to how the rich Osage were tormented by white politicians who feigned being there allies. Grann’s book goes back to the investigation and retells every detail of the murders which show that all Grann wants to do is give light to the truth. He shows the injustices that happened to the Osage and the government's lack of motivation to solve it until the creation of the FBI.
Throughout the book we see many examples of prejudice that most definitely did not help the Osage tribe. Since the beginning the Osages freedom was in the hands of white men and there wasn't much governmental regulation in their favor. Forced to move to Oklahoma to striking the great fortune of oil to being seen as unfit to handle their own financials so were put in the hands of the responsible whites, the Osage tribe has had their fair share of discrimination. Grann successfully showed how in the beginning of the investigation, primarily run by whites, wasn’t successful in finding the responsible party until it becomes a showcase to justify the worth of the FBI. Even when the investigation was closed many Osage murders remained unsolved, but authorities insisted they had the culprit in order to not stain the FBI’s reputation. Racism was one of the themes encountered in this book and Grann shows how this was a big problem in the solving of the Osage murders.
In all, the reader can learn from this book that justice is not black and white, and it continuously clashes with the idea of freedom. We see how greed and prejudice go hand in hand in this case and it continues to prevail in our society. In conclusion we must honor the murdered by not letting this information get lost in history and continue to inform future generation.
The book, Killers of the Flower Moon, is David Grann’s own contribution to reviving history being forcibly forgotten. With how the Reign of Terror seems to be almost entirely unknown to the present public due to being hidden away to save the FBI’s reputation, it is also such a distinct part of the 1920s (and the main timeframe of the first two sections of the book) that is completely overwhelmed by the currently taught history and just the lack of ability to truly explain the largely facilitated plot. Knowing this, Grann writes to have these lost stories and articles of the cruelty against the Osage be known, even continuously quoting the multiple sources he’s found throughout the book to prove that the series of events is true. This case could correlate to similar cases of racial injustice now in the modern twenty-first century, yet has never truly been known to do such. Grann’s point of writing the Osage murder case emphasizes the lack of reliability the U.S government holds in putting their citizens as a priority against dangers within their own homeland.
This book was not only a search for an answer to his own curiosity about the mystery of the unknown Osage murders, but Grann uses his book to expand the concept of being curious by wanting to push his readers to be suspicious of characters and beings with an alarming amount of authority and power. Being curious can be an advantage to those who have long been oppressed to allow their adversities to be heard. Grann’s main take away for his readers would be that history is full of tragedies being erased to ignore the failures of our nation’s government to serve their citizens. Curiosity could be the initiative to end the cycle of victims having to suffer alone because of the lack of acknowledgment of said suffering, which includes memories and stories of just how inhumane greedy authority can be.
David Grann’s,“ Killers of The Flower Moon ” has many possible motives. An obvious one being the desire to educate the reader of the horrible crimes that were committed against the Osage Indians of Oklahoma at the turn of the 20th century, but underneath this clear cut motive lies another one that is not taught as easily.
Grann spends about two-thirds of the book describing in marvelous detail the tragedy that is the Osage Murders, educating the reader of its heroes and villains, Grann’s knack for intricate details make for a thrilling read that leaves the audience with a desire to hurry and finish the book so their curiosity can be satisfied. Grann’s diction makes education seem like the only real exigency for writing the book.The whole time the reader hopes that by the end of the book the murderers and assassins will be brought to justice and will finish their read with a happy ending. In a way, the book does end this way. Grann finishes those first two-thirds by conveying that the mastermind behind the Osage Murders, William Hale, is arrested and spent the better part of his senior years behind bars. Although this ending might satisfy the moviegoer inside the reader, this book is about history and the reality behind this particular corner of American history is rather grim.The last third of the text is where the second, more important, motive is revealed.
Grann goes onto reveal that although Hale might have been responsible for most of the murders, he was not an anomaly. The final third of the book picks up many decades later and in the 21st century where a journalist uncovers that many of the Osage Indians that did not die at the hand of Hale’s schemes, succumbed to the treachery of other greedy white men and women. The reader learns of many cases of Osage Indians dying at the hands of their wives and husbands, their supposed “guardians’’ meant to help with finances, and other forms of betrayal from people who were supposed to help them. The worst of it all being that many deaths were written up as “natural causes” and were not investigated; leaving relatives and descendants mourning without answers and having to live knowing the killers of their family were never brought to justice. The argument that Grann builds up to is that these Osage Indians are only an example of the unfair justice system in the United States.
The reader should take away from this book that justice itself may be blind, but the people meant to execute and enforce it, are not.
Eleazar I. Mora
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