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FredMitch

New Member
Aug 12, 2019
3
19
24
Hello! I've recently started reading Stephen King, and have only currently read The Shining and Pet Semetary. After finishing PS I had so many questions and kept thinking about the book, and after a while I found this message board and joined. I recently tweeted to SK in the hope of getting a reply about my question on if Norma really did cheat on Jud as Gage says so in the last pages of the book or if its a lie. I hope this is the right place for this and the tweet I sent is below but wondered if anyone had any answers for me.

I have a quick question and have a small hope of getting an answer. I recently finished Pet Semetary and I just couldn't figure out if Norma really did cheat on Jud as 'Gage' said so. The passage was so harrowing and it seemed so out of character for Norma who up until that point was a sweet old lady baking cookies. On the one hand the previous resurrected, the Baterman boy is said to speak the truth; when he reveals Jud frequented a whore house out of town. On the other it has to torment its victims with its worst fears, in Jud’s case it was originally that Norma would discover his infidelities, but the second time the creature cant reuse this so it has to move on to other things and since Norma is now dead the best way to do this is to make Jud doubt her, the cheating, the fact she’s in hell still suffering from her arthritis. It seems to only torment it’s victims with the truth when it is has to. It couldn’t in the form of Timmy torment Jud or his friends with something they hadn’t done as this would have had no effect. Norma’s death seems to allow the Wendigo to use Jud’s worse fears tenfold since Jud can never be certain by talking to Norma and involves not his actions directly (Maybe her cheating is a response to his visits to the brothel?) but those of his dead wife’s. The doubts I have relate to a few details mentioned earlier in the book, one is the sexualisation of Norma when he mentions to Louis that if he had seen her when she was younger he wouldn’t have been able to help himself, perhaps like his friends who couldn’t help themselves? What should give me some closure is Jud’s last words of being tricked one last time; but tricked how? Tricked by the lies of Gage, tricked by Norma, tricked into being the agent that initiated the events that led to his death? I simply had too many doubts about what the truth is and hoped you could clarify it somehow. Cheers
 

wolfphoenix

She-Wolf finally Risen and Strapping On.
Apr 24, 2019
2,919
17,451
57
Hello! I've recently started reading Stephen King, and have only currently read The Shining and Pet Semetary. After finishing PS I had so many questions and kept thinking about the book, and after a while I found this message board and joined. I recently tweeted to SK in the hope of getting a reply about my question on if Norma really did cheat on Jud as Gage says so in the last pages of the book or if its a lie. I hope this is the right place for this and the tweet I sent is below but wondered if anyone had any answers for me.

I have a quick question and have a small hope of getting an answer. I recently finished Pet Semetary and I just couldn't figure out if Norma really did cheat on Jud as 'Gage' said so. The passage was so harrowing and it seemed so out of character for Norma who up until that point was a sweet old lady baking cookies. On the one hand the previous resurrected, the Baterman boy is said to speak the truth; when he reveals Jud frequented a whore house out of town. On the other it has to torment its victims with its worst fears, in Jud’s case it was originally that Norma would discover his infidelities, but the second time the creature cant reuse this so it has to move on to other things and since Norma is now dead the best way to do this is to make Jud doubt her, the cheating, the fact she’s in hell still suffering from her arthritis. It seems to only torment it’s victims with the truth when it is has to. It couldn’t in the form of Timmy torment Jud or his friends with something they hadn’t done as this would have had no effect. Norma’s death seems to allow the Wendigo to use Jud’s worse fears tenfold since Jud can never be certain by talking to Norma and involves not his actions directly (Maybe her cheating is a response to his visits to the brothel?) but those of his dead wife’s. The doubts I have relate to a few details mentioned earlier in the book, one is the sexualisation of Norma when he mentions to Louis that if he had seen her when she was younger he wouldn’t have been able to help himself, perhaps like his friends who couldn’t help themselves? What should give me some closure is Jud’s last words of being tricked one last time; but tricked how? Tricked by the lies of Gage, tricked by Norma, tricked into being the agent that initiated the events that led to his death? I simply had too many doubts about what the truth is and hoped you could clarify it somehow. Cheers
Great post and "Welcome"! :)
I think the sort of evil things that were animating Gage and the Baterman boy, could and would use ugly truths AND outright lies to hurt and disarm people they were attacking. ( like you said: "Torment them") You can see how Jud would be torn apart by the "not knowing" there. That may be one of those things in SK stories we're just not supposed to know, or rather, have an exact definite answer to. I feel like Jud was referring to being tricked by the entity/entities.
Everyone gets something different from the artwork. :)
Time for a reread of PS, always get MORE the 2nd and 3rd ....etc....times around. :)
 

osnafrank

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2017
7,121
50,822
47
Germany
500_F_245906576_n4ODmRW7O4COExPk9eajo3jZuDJ3meTP.jpg
 

FredMitch

New Member
Aug 12, 2019
3
19
24
Great post and "Welcome"! :)
I think the sort of evil things that were animating Gage and the Baterman boy, could and would use ugly truths AND outright lies to hurt and disarm people they were attacking. ( like you said: "Torment them") You can see how Jud would be torn apart by the "not knowing" there. That may be one of those things in SK stories we're just not supposed to know, or rather, have an exact definite answer to. I feel like Jud was referring to being tricked by the entity/entities.
Everyone gets something different from the artwork. :)
Time for a reread of PS, always get MORE the 2nd and 3rd ....etc....times around. :)
Yeah that is sort of what I fear is that the ambiguity is part of the writing intentionally, we aren't ever meant to know the truth about Norma, just like Jud couldn't know the truth until he dies and maybe meets Norma if that is truly where she is and Gage wasn't lying. I will learn to live with not knowing I guess. Any personal recommendations on what books to read next, having read only The Shinning and PS?
 

wolfphoenix

She-Wolf finally Risen and Strapping On.
Apr 24, 2019
2,919
17,451
57
Yeah that is sort of what I fear is that the ambiguity is part of the writing intentionally, we aren't ever meant to know the truth about Norma, just like Jud couldn't know the truth until he dies and maybe meets Norma if that is truly where she is and Gage wasn't lying. I will learn to live with not knowing I guess. Any personal recommendations on what books to read next, having read only The Shinning and PS?
I don't think Norma did that. :)
And if Jud had lived longer, I think that he would have reasoned out the lies from truth.
Though he would have wondered "What if?" a lot during the process.
Try to embrace the ambiguity, have fun with it! Maybe it's a way Mr. King let's readers be a part of the story writing. I think he let's use our own imaginations with things like that.
One of the first King books I read was "The Stand",
"Then Christine".
Those are two of my top 5 King books.
I think you'll really like those.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
Great post and "Welcome"! :)
I think the sort of evil things that were animating Gage and the Baterman boy, could and would use ugly truths AND outright lies to hurt and disarm people they were attacking. ( like you said: "Torment them") You can see how Jud would be torn apart by the "not knowing" there. That may be one of those things in SK stories we're just not supposed to know, or rather, have an exact definite answer to. I feel like Jud was referring to being tricked by the entity/entities.
Everyone gets something different from the artwork. :)
Time for a reread of PS, always get MORE the 2nd and 3rd ....etc....times around. :)
....good as gold reply dear heart!.....
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hello! I've recently started reading Stephen King, and have only currently read The Shining and Pet Semetary. After finishing PS I had so many questions and kept thinking about the book, and after a while I found this message board and joined. I recently tweeted to SK in the hope of getting a reply about my question on if Norma really did cheat on Jud as Gage says so in the last pages of the book or if its a lie. I hope this is the right place for this and the tweet I sent is below but wondered if anyone had any answers for me.

I have a quick question and have a small hope of getting an answer. I recently finished Pet Semetary and I just couldn't figure out if Norma really did cheat on Jud as 'Gage' said so. The passage was so harrowing and it seemed so out of character for Norma who up until that point was a sweet old lady baking cookies. On the one hand the previous resurrected, the Baterman boy is said to speak the truth; when he reveals Jud frequented a whore house out of town. On the other it has to torment its victims with its worst fears, in Jud’s case it was originally that Norma would discover his infidelities, but the second time the creature cant reuse this so it has to move on to other things and since Norma is now dead the best way to do this is to make Jud doubt her, the cheating, the fact she’s in hell still suffering from her arthritis. It seems to only torment it’s victims with the truth when it is has to. It couldn’t in the form of Timmy torment Jud or his friends with something they hadn’t done as this would have had no effect. Norma’s death seems to allow the Wendigo to use Jud’s worse fears tenfold since Jud can never be certain by talking to Norma and involves not his actions directly (Maybe her cheating is a response to his visits to the brothel?) but those of his dead wife’s. The doubts I have relate to a few details mentioned earlier in the book, one is the sexualisation of Norma when he mentions to Louis that if he had seen her when she was younger he wouldn’t have been able to help himself, perhaps like his friends who couldn’t help themselves? What should give me some closure is Jud’s last words of being tricked one last time; but tricked how? Tricked by the lies of Gage, tricked by Norma, tricked into being the agent that initiated the events that led to his death? I simply had too many doubts about what the truth is and hoped you could clarify it somehow. Cheers
Wow - my head hurts after reading all this

Welcome to SKMB FredMitch - I recommend 11/22/63 - it's very good

11-22-63 Welcome.JPG