The Devil's Teardrop

Rules and guidelines are established within societies in order for them to function. Without this system, everyone would behave in any way they wanted, creating an undesirable environment. With the use of context and character symbolization in The Devil’s Teardrop, Jeffrey Deaver illustrates the effect of deviance and crime on a society. He explains the importance of norms and rules established in society and shows the consequences if they are not followed. Another social issue touched in this novel is the effect of mentally ill individuals in a functioning society. The criminal behaviour of the two characters, Edward Fielding and Evan Hughes are solely blamed on their mental illnesses. The author shows that mental illness is a danger to society since these individuals cannot conform to these rules. By doing this, Jeffrey Deaver correlates mental illness with deviance and crime. The author has a functionalistic point of view in that he believes that it is more important focussin...