Summary Of 37 Who Saw Murder Didn T Call The Police

In Martin Gansberg’s article “37 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” he writes about a neighborhood in Queens that allowed a woman to be murdered in the early hours of the morning, right outside their doorsteps. The woman was attacked three times by her assailant, successfully ending the woman’s life on the third attempt. Gansberg explores how thirty-seven individuals can be audience to a horrific event, and yet do nothing.
Gansberg has three main points in the thesis of the article: “For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.” (665) The article starts out strong with this sentence in the very beginning. Gansberg wants to make it clear to the reader his that the number of onlookers was thirty-eight, the time elapsed during the event was thirty minutes, and the attack happened three times.
The article sets the tone with information on how the victim found herself in the tragic situation. As the article continues, Gansberg paints the scene for the reader on how the attack transpired, specifically, noting each opportunity for intervention. The article closes out with Gansberg exploring the thoughts of the police officers and of the witnesses. Through these transitions, Gansberg is emphasizing the points of his thesis and explores the theme

Gansberg’s theme can be captured by this entry: “Not one person telephoned – the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead.” (Gansberg 665) The article lays out the series of events but it does not hand hold the reader on how to feel about them. Gansberg gives the reader an opportunity to form out own judgment about the neighborhood and their actions. The article gives the opportunity for the reader to ask themselves the question, “would I do anything different, would my