The novel “Thieves Like Us” by Edward Anderson strips down conventional understanding by questioning the legitimacy of crime and undermining certainty while limiting the ability of the reader to distinguish between the narrator and the thoughts of the main character, Bowie. By breaking down the rules of formal thought, this novel forces the reader to simply just think critically about meaning. This comes in many forms as the novel asks about what it means to steal, whether anything can be set in stone, and if point of view matters.
The meaning of theft is questioned throughout “Thieves Like Us”. At the beginning of the novel, Bowie and two companions break out of jail and set off on a bank-robbing spree. “Thieves Like Us” questions the definition of stealing through Bowie’s understanding of right and wrong. Bowie claims he never ‘robbed anybody in [his] life that couldn’t afford to lose it.” No, Bowie would “as soon beg as to do that” (Anderson 257). Through this quote, Bowie shows that his moral compass allows him to rob people who could afford to lose the money. The novel also relates characters to Bowie as “Real People”. …show more content…
If people within the novel are denied the same realness as the main characters, it makes it easier for readers to relieve Bowie’s culpability in the crimes he commits. Anderson is effectively denying characterization of anyone who isn’t a Real Person, and therefore he allows the reader to recognize the existence of Unreal People only in relation to Bowie by asking the question: if a character is not real, how can they be robbed? Further, crime is usually recognized as theft versus non-theft, but Anderson breaks down the categorization of crime and rebuilds it instead to be considered as victim versus non-victim. By reimagining the definition of crime, Anderson forces his audience to re-consider their own definition of
The meaning of theft is questioned throughout “Thieves Like Us”. At the beginning of the novel, Bowie and two companions break out of jail and set off on a bank-robbing spree. “Thieves Like Us” questions the definition of stealing through Bowie’s understanding of right and wrong. Bowie claims he never ‘robbed anybody in [his] life that couldn’t afford to lose it.” No, Bowie would “as soon beg as to do that” (Anderson 257). Through this quote, Bowie shows that his moral compass allows him to rob people who could afford to lose the money. The novel also relates characters to Bowie as “Real People”. …show more content…
If people within the novel are denied the same realness as the main characters, it makes it easier for readers to relieve Bowie’s culpability in the crimes he commits. Anderson is effectively denying characterization of anyone who isn’t a Real Person, and therefore he allows the reader to recognize the existence of Unreal People only in relation to Bowie by asking the question: if a character is not real, how can they be robbed? Further, crime is usually recognized as theft versus non-theft, but Anderson breaks down the categorization of crime and rebuilds it instead to be considered as victim versus non-victim. By reimagining the definition of crime, Anderson forces his audience to re-consider their own definition of