I think you are right. I can't say the Kid Collins really
crosses that line, but my recollection is shaky too, and I no
longer have a copy.
In some stories, it is very clear. There is a "psychotic
moment," a point in the story where psychosis exhibits itself
in some piece of dialog or thought. At that point, he/she is
longer one of us (not a fair statement - just an attempt, on
my part, to characterize the reader's point of view.)
Yes, the hero is the victim. I always hope it won't end that
way, but it always does. I've seen the movie Sunset Blvd,
several times. It always starts the same way with Joe Gillis
dead in the swimming pool, and I always hope it will end
differently. It hasn't yet.
Thanks, Charlie. Take care. George the Librarian
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Charlie Williams"
<cs_will@...> wrote:
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "George Tuttle"
<noirfiction@>
> wrote:
> > A follow up question to all:
> > Do you find that psychotics are greatly
maligned in crime fiction?
> > That they get a bad rap? I mean that word
psycho is so often
> > associated the word "killer," do you think it
is unfair? Do you find
> > that there are a disproportionate number of
psychotic criminals to
> > psychotic victims in noir fiction?
> >
> > When I think of a psychotic victim, the first
protagonist that comes
> > to mind is Jim Thompson's Kid Collins in After
Dark, My Sweet. His
> > psychotic tendencies make him highly
vulnerable, easy to exploit. I
> > tend to see him more of a victim, than a
criminal, but that might be
> > the romantic in me.
>
> George,
>
> I haven't read AFTER DARK in a while, but my memory
of Kid Collins is
> that he is not very clever. There's a difference
between stupid and
> crazy, as everyone knows. I guess he's crazy too,
but I think his
> lack of intelligence makes him vulnerable as much as
anything else. I
> dunno, maybe my memory of that novel is shaky. Isn't
he prone to
> violent outbursts?
>
> In noir fiction (and crime fiction in general) it is
usually so much
> more fun to have a psycho character in the
villain/antihero role,
> rather than victim. I guess I never really thought
about it. Who are
> the victims in noir novels? Isn't the hero the
victim? He's gonna
> wind up screwed in the end. Fate is the
villain.
>
> Charlie.
>
> -----
> charliewilliams.net
>
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