Burke Devore has no psychological need to commit the murders he does. They're an end to get what he needs, same with Parker and the typical fictional hit man. In fact, Devore dislikes committing these murders more than Parker and most fictional hit men, and in fact finds himself liking his targets and understanding that under different circumstances he could be friends with these men.
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "jacquesdebierue" <jacquesdebierue@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "davezeltserman" <Dave.Zeltserman@> wrote:
> >
> > The protagonist in The Ax, Burke Devore, is committing these murders to obtain something, namely security + financial benefits, sames as hit men, who might also need to perform their jobs to keep their lives. These's no difference between what Burke, Parker, or really any hit men are doing--they're doing what they have to to get what they want or feel they need.
>
> But why do we saparate "material" needs from "psychological" needs? Isn't that a version of the primitive mind-body separation that got us into trouble in the first place? In other words, we seem to have to metaphysics, one for material things and one for "soul". What is the point of that? The murders are just as bad, in fact, the material guy murder's are likely to be premeditated, therefore "worse" according to various accepted codes.
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 21 Aug 2010 EDT