4. There is much speculation by the characters in Jack Maggs about the "Criminal Mind."

[Kristel]

4. There is much speculation by the characters in Jack Maggs about the "Criminal Mind." Oates thinks that Jack Maggs is an example of the criminal mind, but as the events unfold his ideas on the subject become less and less clear. Has Maggs been made a criminal by his nature, or by his environment? Is Oates, in your opinion, a criminal? What about Buckle, Phipps, Mary Britten, or Tom? Is there in fact any such thing as a criminal mind?

[[deleted user]]

I would say every mind is different.

Buckle is a criminal because he is knowingly inciting murder and using the law as protection.

Mary, Tom and Jack are victims of circumstance they need to become criminal in order to survive. However Jack demonstrates that he is just as capable of surviving by going straight.

Oates is selfish and he does knowingly steal Jacks memories and his stories so in that sense he is criminal but is actually doing nothing against the law. The act he commits that is against the law is in not turning Maggs in and I don't consider that to be criminal.

[Patrick]

I agree with Book Worm.

[Pip]

Oates' obsession with the "Criminal Mind" is as a vehicle for becoming a famous novelist. His belief in mesmerism mimics Dickens' own interest in it. He thinks if he can understand how a criminal mind works he will become a successful writer. It is ironic that his mind is as criminal as Maggs by the time he has assisted in a murder and procured an abortion which ends in death.