Bernard
Has anyone gone to the trouble of working through all of the Sharpe series and calculating how many people have been killed by Sharpe? I know this would be difficult as he does injure and maim a great many and their fate is not always known. There are also multiple deaths from 7 barrel guns and the like, but has anyone come up with any kind of number? I'd be interested to know the Uhtred body count as well!
Cheers
Peter
Hello there.
After years of reading Sharpe over and over again (and all the other criminal maniacs described by the rightful Earl of Bamburgh Castle; (Bernard “Bebbanburg” Cornwell); I have decide that there is a purpose to this time consuming past time. I am currently reading the whole series again and have just arrived back from India with Ensign Sharpe after the battle of Trafalgar.
That purpose is to describe the full extent of Richard (Dick) Sharpe’s responsibility for the deaths of other persons as so faithfully described in the biography of this great English warrior that the readers of this post have undoubtedly read. (If you have not, stop here and go away and read them. Now. All of them.)
I intend to compile this list of Sharpe’s “kills” from the entire series; in chronological order. I have developed a few rules to determine the body count. Essentially I have only included kills where on the basis of the text; there is sufficient ”evidence” to say that Sharpe was directly responsible for a particular kill with a high degree of probability. I accept the fact that Sharpe himself (“I hate bloody lawyers”) might not accept this legalistic approach; and indeed; would with little hesitation add me to the list if he were able - on this basis alone. However; this is my training and provides me with a basis for discerning specific kills and types of kills for which Sharpe has clear personal responsibility/credit; based on the probative value of the available evidence; provided entirely by Mr. Cornwell’s fertile imagination.
Therefore; I have eliminated any mass killings; such as the explosion at Almeida; which may have killed hundreds; as too unsubstantiated and indirect to count at all. Likewise; I have not counted the explosion of the mine at Seringapatam; which may have killed tens or hundreds; as too imprecise and indirect. So the bottom line is that this body count is very, very conservative. I have also eliminated indirect killings; where Sharpe might reasonable be considered responsible; but did not commit the final act. Essentially, to put it bluntly; this is a list of “face to face” killings; where there is little doubt that Sharpe directly and personally caused the death. There are many injuries and maimings that are not considered; even those that may well have caused death eventually; in this regard I have necessarily exercised some personal judgement as to the probability of certain acts by Sharpe and their probable consequences. In doing this I have applied something between the
common law standard of “he probably did it”; and the criminal standard of “ beyond reasonable doubt”; so if you like: “on the balance of probabilities, it is beyond reasonable doubt that he killed that person.” Do not ever try that in court.
As with any statistical analysis; this list is highly contentious; and it is entirely my intention to spark debate and controversy by promulgating this outrage. While I am sympathetic to Mr Sharpe; undoubtedly a great hero of the various colonial wars of the time; there is little doubt on the evidence that he is/was a serial murderer and that by the values of previous or contemporary society he should “hang by the neck until dead”.
Of course; you have to catch the bugger first; and that has proved to be very difficult; and I for one (although “the creator” does not enlighten us) suspect that Sharpe ends his days as a wealthy; satisfied old man; in his bed; with or without his boots on as the reader’s fancy takes them. Who is in the bed with him at that time is a matter for conjecture; but I would rule out Posh Spice. I would rule out David Beckham too.
Current count; at the end of “Sharpe’s Trafalgar”:
Total body count: 37
KIA: 27
Murder: 8
Other: 2
I hope to post updates from time to time and complete the task within a few months.
Cheers
Kevin Phelan