The central figure of the 1892 Fall River, Massachusetts, murders of her father and stepmother.
You get home, open the front door, and then find your mom and dad lying dead on the floor. What will you do? In this case, you become the main character, Lizzie Borden, in the book The Borden Murders (GoodReads page here). A case like this was shown thoroughly. The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden & The Trial of the Century by Sarah Miller demonstrated how a case can affect a person’s emotions and life.
It was on August 4, 1892, in Fall River, Massachusetts, when it all happened. The victims appeared to be Andrew Borden, Lizzie’s father, and Abby Borden, Lizzie’s stepmother. Lizzie, in the first place, acted unexpectedly calm. She first called her maid, Bridget Sullivan, to come and help. Soon, the information spread all over their block. Then the police officers arrived and started to investigate the bodies and the actual murderer. Neighbors were all suspected at that moment. But as the time passed, Lizzie Borden, surprisingly, became their prime suspect. Soon, the time of judgment came. The trial officially started in the courtroom with Albert Mason, the chief justice’s order. Other things also came along with it. It includes emotional loss, gossip suspicions from the citizens of Fall River, and most importantly, the pressure brought by the trial. Among the pages, you will find exciting decisions and bloody truths, along with themes and central ideas developed throughout the story. Will Lizzie Borden eventually pass with innocence, or will she be waiting for her consequences after the result of her being guilty of the murders?
The first page is about a central idea that talks about the court and judicial system at the time the story happened, which was considered really harsh.
This also serves as a conflict in the book for Lizzie’s emotions. Before the trial, Lizzie was a calm person. But during the trial, her hands started to shake and tears began to fall down.
The second page is about another central idea, or part-theme, about suspicions in the book.
Throughout the event, many suspicions appeared for different people, along with many different points of view. There are some suspicions that a Portuguese is a murderer, which can be connected to a social issue of racial inequality. But most of them are to suspect that Lizzie is the one who killed her parents herself. There are also consequences for them, which caused Lizzie to take special medicines made from drugs to calm down.
The third page is a cause-and-effect page of the reason and consequences if she really killed her parents.
These are the causes and effects, along with the connections if the murder was really done by Lizzie Borden herself. This could also link with other central ideas like suspicions.
The last page is about the importance of re-reading.
This is the importance shown of rereading here. One example is about another murder case, in which a Portuguese person is found guilty. This connects me to the previous racism issue when I re-read this part.
To sum up, The Border Murders is an exciting novel that contains excellent plots, while showing the central ideas and themes that are important for us to dive deeper. Find out the sequel of Lizzie Borden’s case by opening this book!