Let me explain the Pardoner, since you know the Killer. OK,
in a few
words. A big mystery about the Pardoner, one of the prize
villains of all
literature, is that after he has told all the pilgrims how he
cons ignorant
peasants out of their savings by convincing them that his pig
bones are
powerful relics (of a saint), he turns to the most worldly
wise of the
pilgrims, the Host, and tries to sell him on kissing these
"sacred" bones!
The Host insults him, in return. Is the Pardoner drunk? Is he
stupid, so
much in the full swing of his pitch that he forgets that he's
already
unmasked himself to the pilgrims?
I used to favor the latter, but then I noticed how Thompson's
Lou will
continue to irritate people with his cliches and dumb
opinions EVEN WHEN
they are not ignorant of his true nature. He never drops the
mask much,
except for Johnnie before he strangles him, and he seems to
like to take
his game up a notch for the smarty, rich people, like Conway
or the
attorney. (Who, after all, is "shrapnel" in the butt--or dumb
too.)
You know they know, but you keep doing it--just for spite, on
a higher level.
My other surprise, in rereading Thompson, was the discovery
that I had
overdone the ending in my memory. Perhaps because I was
watching too much
Sam Peckinpah when I first read this, or maybe Zabriski
Point--I thought
that Lou had lured all his favorite targets into or close to
the house at
the end so they could all go up together in flames. But
that's not what
happens, is it? Alcohol on books and candles just starts a
fire...which
has already started when Lou finishes off what'shername and
is presumably
shot. But I assume the gunfire did not itself cause an
explosion. (Now if
he had just had a number of open gas jets....)
Of course, I cannot now find my copy of The Killer..., so
once again, I
could be wrong. But someone here will tell me.
Bill Hagen
<billha@ionet.net>
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