Joyce Carol Oates's My Sister, My Love: The Case Of John And Patsy Ramsey Case

Great Essays
Register to read the introduction… The press is highly responsible for this. Even after being cleared by the DNA evidence the Ramsey’s have remained under a multitude of suspicion from the world. To this day there are still people that believe that they killed their daughter. Because of their social status and wealth, many people assume that they paid higher officials off and hired high-powered attorneys who had connections with the DA’s office. Many feel that the media was controlled and information they obtained was purposely manipulated to benefit certain theories. They feel that the world was fed lies on the case and some say that they will never know the truth in much detail. Today, the media still takes advantage of printing a Jonbenet story and many other media have been inspired by this case. Even after seventeen years, the unsolved case has become a popular subject in many television documentaries, crime blogs, and even books. Joyce Carol Oates’s story My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skylar Rampike, shares some striking similarities to the Ramsey case. Sarah Churchwell states that “The Ramseys were renamed the Rampikes, Patsy is now Betsy and her daughter recast as bliss (a champion junior ice skater) whose premature sexualization by her ambitious, exploitative mother is at the heart of Oates’s storytelling” (Churchwell). Another book written by the Ramseys themselves is the “The Death of Innocence” goes into detail on their side of the story. The book speaks about their role in the investigation and discusses myths and facts that clouded the case. The Ramseys thought that if they told their story that they could somehow change they way the world viewed them. Though it had a positive affect on some, many people felt that the Ramseys were trying to “cash in” on their daughter’s death, reinforcing the notion that they cannot be …show more content…
"The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey." Crime Library n.pag. Web. 2 Mar 2014.

Churchwell, Sarah. "The Death of Innocence." New York Times 18 Aug 2008, n. pag. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

Fox, RichardL., Robert W. Van Sickle, and Thomas L. Steiger. Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice

in an Age of Media Frenzy. 2nd. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2007. 1-15. Print.

Jones, Aphrodite, dir. "JonBenet Ramsey." True Crime with Aphrodite Jones. Investigation

Discovery : 31 Mar 2011. Television.

McKinley, Carol. "Ramsey Case Spawns Media Feeding Frenzy and Public Obsession."Fox News. N.p., 22 May 2001. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Mitchell, Kirk. "Boulder Involeved in JonBenet Case Often Clashed ." Denver Post 25 oct 2013,

n. pag. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.

"Grand jury prepared child abuse indictment against JonBenet Ramse'ys parents, newly released documents show." NBC News 25 oct 2013, n. pag. Web. 2 Mar.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Bias in the Media against an Acquitted Murderer Murder cases have a unique place in the American judicial court system, especially the case of Casey Anthony and the death of her two year old daughter, Caylee. On July 15, 2008, she was reported missing to 9-1-1 by Cindy Anthony (Grandmother), who said she had not seen Caylee for 31 days and that Casey 's car smelled like a dead body had been inside it. The cops then later interviewed Casey Anthony where she provided a number of falsehoods—including the child was kidnapped—and was charged with first degree murder. The case was later sent to court and after months of testimony and presentation of evidence, the court found her guilty of lies to the police but was acquitted of the first degree…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the blink of an eye, the JonBenet Ramsey case was one of the most well-known murder cases in US history. Nearly every media source around the country sought after any information they could grasp in hopes of being the first to release new information no one had heard before. Unfortunately, nearly every media source had a different storyline to present. Unverified assumptions and accusations were made by various thought to be reliable news sources. The story is still buzzing 20 years later.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There was some speculation that her parents were involved, but they always denied this and were never charged with anything. They felt like someone broke into their home and killed their daughter JonBenet Ramsey. The investigation is still open, but at this time police are not sharing where they are at on the case. Hopefully, all of this new press will make it where someone will come forward with something that will finally solve the murder of JonBenet…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One night a father walked down to his basement finding his seven year old daughter dead. On December 26, 1996 in Boulder, California, Patsy got up from her sleep to get a glass of milk, on her way down she found a ransom note indicating that someone had their daughter, Jonbenet Ramsey and to get her back safely they would have to pay a fee of 118,000. Patsy ran upstairs and woke up her husband John and they called the police immediately because, they thought Jonbenet had been kidnapped from the Ramsey residence. Police came soon after the call and searched around the house for any clues or evidence to where she went and who took her. They weren’t necessary looking for jonbenet because the note made it seem like she was abducted from the house, but John, her father went down to the basement finding jonbenet tied up, dead.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “ Does someone actually think I would kill my daughter because she wet the bed?” said Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet Ramsey’s mom. JonBenet Ramsey’s murder in 1996 still shocks the world today. JonBenet Ramsey was born on August 6, 1990, in Atlanta Georgia. The daughter of a fashion designer and a wealthy businessman.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    because without witnesses the town was left to make up in their head’s what happened. They did so because there was no story being told that would assure the town folk that it was an outsider that killed the clutter family. As soon as people started to suspect…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    John Hossack Murder

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The homicide of John Hossack will always be a mysterious cold case. The person who truly killed John will never be known from the very little evidence left in the bedroom. Though with very little evidence all fingers pointed to Margaret Hossack and Mrs. Wright for the killings of their husbands. Therefore, Margaret and Mrs. Wright story didn’t add up to how their husbands were killed and were incarcerated for life. There are two sides to every story, but only John, Margaret and Mrs. Wright knew what happened that very night.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Casey Anthony Trial

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The detectives became suspicious and Casey became the number one suspect of the disappearance and murder of her daughter Caylee Anthony. Because Casey knowingly and willfully lied to detectives thought out the investigation and the evidence they collect gave them probable cause to arrest Casey Anthony. After the police finished their investigation they handed the evidence over to the prosecution, so they could build their case against Casey…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The police did not perform their job to the best ability and let circumstances affect their decisions and cause mistakes. This ended in the murder case of JonBenet Ramsey remaining unsolved to this…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A popular topic that is constantly being discussed and argued about is the innocence of children and the effects of race on childhood innocence. Two authors, Robin Bernstein and Erica Meiners discuss this topic and provide an explanation and situations in which race was a key factor in determining the life stage and innocence of an individual. Bernstein published an article, “Let Black Kids Just be Kids”, about the innocence of kids based on race and the different perspectives on children throughout the years. Meiners published a book, “For the Children? Protecting Innocence in a Carceral State”, focusing on the idea that childhood is not accessible to everyone.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was created by a man named Lawrence Kohlberg. He was a professor at Harvard, as well as a psychology. Subsequently, he decided to move into the moral education field. He believed that there are three levels of moral development; each level is divided into two individual stages. His theory was influenced by the thinking of the Swiss psychologist, Piaget; American philosopher, John Dewey; and American philosopher/ psychologist, James Mark Baldwin.…

    • 2071 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hayes, Floyd W. A Turbulent Voyage. San Diego: Collegiate Press, 2000. Morrison, Toni, ed. Birth of a nation'hood : gaze, script, and spectacle in the O.J. Simpson case.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Movie Analysis: Rain Man

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rain Man is a movie of psychological change; from beginning to end the persona of a self-centered, egotistical, businessman changes to that of a caring man capable of showing love. Charlie Babbit worked as a car dealership owner, in which he put most of his time and energy into. Charlie can be seen as a pretty lonely person, despite having a girlfriend and living an upper-middle class American lifestyle. Charlie 's mother died since he was a child, and his relationship with his father ended on a negative note leaving Charlie feeling even more isolated after his passing. Charlie 's past and present behavior in the movie can be seen as influenced by biosocial development.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Father and uncle were charged with murdered. It 's completely horrible to hear that how can some families kill their children for respect. What are these parents going to make with the respect if they have no longer their children with them? How can these parents decide to do such kind of thing to do their children who were once raised in their lap, learn to walk holding their parents hand? How these parents live their life after killing their children.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Imagine your fifteen year old son going to war, uncertain if he will ever return home again. Growing old is something that should be cherished, not catalyzed. Whether it is committing murder, witnessing death, or being a part of a destructive brotherhood, war has detrimental effects of the lives of all soldiers. All of these aspects of war lead an individual to not only fight for their own life, but to fight for the rights of others as well. The loss of innocence in the Civil War forces young soldiers to welcome adulthood in the face of adversity and chaos in a dwindling nation.…

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics