Brenna CourtemancheProfessor CrombieENC 11024 April 2014The Mind of Serial KillersThere is no specific manual or "how to" book to describe how a serial killer might behave or appear. It would be comforting if real-life serial killers were like the ones in the movies. If they were obviously disguised as Jason from Friday the 13th, we would be aware whenever they approached. If they were introverted loners like Psycho's Norman Bates, they couldn't so easily deceive us into their deviant plan. The scary truth is that serial killers, like Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos, are extraordinarily ordinary and, therefore, very dangerous. According to Dan DeWhitt (1995), there is a profile of the typical serial murderer. He is a white male in his twenties or thirties, who kills not for love, money or revenge but just for the fun of it. Unlike most other types of murderers, the serial killer almost never uses a firearm. A gun would only deprive him of his greatest pleasure: exalting himself in the suffering of his victim. The serial killer satisfies his hunger for power and control by squeezing the last breath of life from his victim's body. Most people believe that anyone who kills for fun must be crazy. Some serial killers were driven by madness, such as Danny Rolling or better known as The Gainesville Ripper, who killed more than ten people in three different states. Like Rolling, most aren't crazy. Serial killers know right from wrong and know exactly what they are doing, choosing not to control their desire to kill. Psychologically, the serial killer is a sociopath, which is a disorder of character rather than mind. "The serial killer has no conscience, feels no remorse and is concerned exclusively with his own pleasures in life... middle of paper... a rare phenomenon. Silla Brush, a writer for The Florida Times-Union says: " Despite the recent publicity regarding modern serial killers, there are at most one hundred and fifty Americans killed by serial killers each year. In fact, the chance of falling victim to a serial killer is less than that of contracting malaria. Serial murder is certainly a growing threat, but far from an epidemic. The most threatening aspect of the modern serial killer may be our fear of If we perceive every stranger we meet as a potential serial killer, then we will be victimized in a much more insidious way causing distrust in everyone around us. As in Kate Chopin's "The Tempest", throughout the story everyone was so afraid of the coming storm they were restless and anxious. If everyone lived thinking they were going to be victims, in a way it would be torture itself.