Line #30 Literature/TheDiaryOfAMadman


1	[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diary_of_a_madman.jpg]]
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3	''The Diary of A Madman'' is an 1885 short story by Creator/GuyDeMaupassant. It has been adapted into a radio play as an episode of ''Radio/CBSRadioMysteryTheater''.
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5	A notary discovers the diary of an upright magistrate who recently passed away. It turns out that the man was a serial killer.
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7	No relation to ''Literature/DiaryOfAMadman'' by Creator/NikolaiGogol.
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9	----
10	!!Tropes:
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12	* AboveGoodAndEvil: For the judge, killing is not a crime but the law of the nature and thus condemning murder is an aberration of society.
13	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: The Judge's first victim is his servant's goldfinch before he moves on to murdering humans.
14	* BeneathSuspicion:
15	-->Who would ever know? Who would ever suspect me, me, me, especially if I should choose a being [[ForTheEvulz I had no interest in doing away with]]?
16	* BloodBath: Invoked. After seeing the nephew guillotined, the judge wishes he could have bathed in his blood.
17	* EvilFeelsGood: The judge finds joy in killing people. He outright claims "there is nothing more beautiful and honorable than killing!".
18	* EvilLaugh: The magistrate actually writes "Ah! Ah!" ten times in the manuscript.
19	* EvilNephew: Invoked. As the fisherman's nephew was his heir, he's the prime suspect for his uncle's murder.
20	* ForTheEvulz: The judge has no motivation other than acting upon his murderous urges.
21	* HaveAGayOldTime: After killing the boy, the judge writes "In the evening I was very gay, light, rejuvenated".
22	* KarmaHoudini: The titular madman murdered at least three people but as he was never caught he lived until the age of eighty-two and was sincerely mourned by a whole of people.
23	* LackOfEmpathy: The judge secretly mocks his servant being clueless about the death of his bird, the sadness of the parents of the boy and the nephew's poorly defending himself.
24	* NamelessNarrative: No characters have name except Blondel, a man who commited infanticide, and Jean, the judge's servant.
25	* OffWithHisHead: The fisherman's nephew charged with the murder of his father is executed by the guillotine.
26	* OffingTheOffspring: The diary starts with the judge writing about the case of Blondel, a man who murdered his five children.
27	* PosthumousNarration: The author of the journal is dead by the start of the story.
28	* SecretDiary: The judge keeps a journal about his philosophy and his crimes entitled ''Why?''.
29	* ShovelStrike: The judge kills a sleeping fisherman with a shovel.
30	* SlashedThroat: The judge takes a pair of scissors and cuts the throat of his servant’s goldfinch with three slits.
31	* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: The narrator concludes that the world has many undiscovered adroit madmen like the lunatic judge.
32	* VillainProtagonist: The titular madman is the protagonist who murders a goldfinch, a boy, a fisherman and sentences the fisherman’s nephew to the guillotine.
33	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The judge had the reputation of an honorable and irreproachable defender of justice until the notary discovered his journal.
34	* WouldHurtAChild: The judge strangles a little boy and throws his body into a ditch.

Context Literature / TheDiaryOfAMadman