Gage's Final Moments *Spoiler*

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

Adam Thoroughgood

New Member
Dec 14, 2016
2
12
42
When Gage dies the second time, and for a moment the "real" Gage, as he was, returns; I wonder what people think about that.

For me, I think he should just be an empty vessel at that point. So it throws me a bit. Could it be that the demon (or whatever) is trying that as a last resort, to make Louis try to undo what he has done? I know that death is inevitable at that point so it is a pointless strategy, but it is the only way I can make it work with my interpretation.

What are people's thoughts?
 

staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
15,210
48,848
Alberta,Canada
I do not think much about the WHY? of things. I just read the story. I find thinking too much can spoil it for me. I enjoy it the way Steve presents it. I do not think he goes beneath the surface of things or the top and bottom of things much, either. He just spins a simple tale with lots of good characters and interesting plots.
Welcome....enjoy your stay.
 

mjs9153

Peripherally known member..
Nov 21, 2014
3,494
22,165
Can't follow what you are trying to say..I only read the book once or twice,hits a little close to home for me,but I think once the demon gives up and vacates,there is a moment of lucidity,maybe not always..anyhow welcome and hope you enjoy the board!
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
I'm not sure if you meant to post in the movie thread but in the novel, Pet Sematary, the "real" Gage never returns. Rachel momentarily sees Gage as Zelda and then (presumably) as her son because she hugs him, but this is only proof of demonic and supernatural forces, not that his real spirit has returned. Gage is a reanimated corpse but, somehow through the power of the Wendigo, he (the demon/Wendigo) manages to cause Rachel to hallucinate, thus taking the opportunity to kill her. I hope this makes sense and I hope you have more to say or comment about this book; it's my favorite. Welcome.
 

Adam Thoroughgood

New Member
Dec 14, 2016
2
12
42
No, I do mean the book.

"Now Gage looked up at him and for a moment Louis saw his son-his real son-his face unhappy and filled with pain.

"Daddy!" he cried, and then fell forward on his face."

It just seemed a bit strange to me, as my take would be very similar to that of 'Doc Creed' above.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
I'm not sure if you meant to post in the movie thread but in the novel, Pet Sematary, the "real" Gage never returns. Rachel momentarily sees Gage as Zelda and then (presumably) as her son because she hugs him, but this is only proof of demonic and supernatural forces, not that his real spirit has returned. Gage is a reanimated corpse but, somehow through the power of the Wendigo, he (the demon/Wendigo) manages to cause Rachel to hallucinate, thus taking the opportunity to kill her. I hope this makes sense and I hope you have more to say or comment about this book; it's my favorite. Welcome.
....I think there are demonic forces in those haunted acres that are driven out of their "vessel" after the second death.....but the Wendigo to me, is merely a hungry guardian, cannibal hungry-surviving on scraps, real or psychic.....
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
No, I do mean the book.

"Now Gage looked up at him and for a moment Louis saw his son-his real son-his face unhappy and filled with pain.

"Daddy!" he cried, and then fell forward on his face."

It just seemed a bit strange to me, as my take would be very similar to that of 'Doc Creed' above.
Thanks for sharing the quote. I remember the scene, now. I'm still of the opinion that Gage was not present but maybe this is my own bias and personal religious belief. It appears Louis (maybe only in his mind) sees Gage, "his real son", because he wants to see him, I don't know. It is almost King's grace note for the beleaguered reader. Like Hamlet's last words..."the rest is silence."
Now that I think about it, King never adheres to a heaven or hell narrative...does he? I could be wrong again, lol. I remember Louis envisioning Gage and himself at Disney World, which it seems to me now must be a stand-in for the afterlife. A Heaven. At the very least it is a 'what could've been'.
Thanks for the quote, I will read it more carefully on the next go round.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
....I think there are demonic forces in those haunted acres that are driven out of their "vessel" after the second death.....but the Wendigo to me, is merely a hungry guardian, cannibal hungry-surviving on scraps, real or psychic.....
Yeah, I know Louis passes the literal Wendigo in between the deadfall and the Micmac burial ground but I was never completely sure what force or forces were animating the dead. Was it demons in the biblical sense (I don't think it's a mistake that King quotes from the Bible before each of the three parts) or are there numerous explanations? I guess that's why I'm so fascinated with this book. Every reading of it has me further asking questions.
 
Last edited:

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
Yeah, I know Louis passes the literal Wendigo in between the deadfall and the Micmac burial ground but I was never completely sure what force or forces were animating the dead. Was it demons in the biblical sense (I don't think it's a mistake that King quotes from the Bible before each of the three parts) or are there numerous explanations? I guess that's why I'm so fascinated with this book. Every reading of it has me further asking questions.
...nah Doc, they aren't the biblical demons....nothing but foul wraiths from the pit....
 

mjs9153

Peripherally known member..
Nov 21, 2014
3,494
22,165
" even today in the Hudson Bay lowlands the windigo is as tangible and frightening to the Ojibwa and Cree as a Jeffrey Dahmer is to us. The windigo often takes the form of a 10-foot Giant, and though he breathes fire his heart is a ball of solid ice. He flies through the air at night looking for lone humans so that he can commit that still most heinous of all crimes, cannibalism, surviving on a diet of his victim's Flesh and Blood. A shaman,with the aid of other Spirits, has a chance of killing a wendigo, but for an ordinary man the task is nearly impossible. If he should manage to cut off the wendigo's head, that head will only reunite with the monstrous body. Any bullet other than a silver one would be useless against him. A human bitten by a wendigo will unavoidably become one and simply dreaming of the creature can affect the transformation."
Thomas McIntyre "Spirit of the North"
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
" even today in the Hudson Bay lowlands the windigo is as tangible and frightening to the Ojibwa and Cree as a Jeffrey Dahmer is to us. The windigo often takes the form of a 10-foot Giant, and though he breathes fire his heart is a ball of solid ice. He flies through the air at night looking for lone humans so that he can commit that still most heinous of all crimes, cannibalism, surviving on a diet of his victim's Flesh and Blood. A shaman,with the aid of other Spirits, has a chance of killing a wendigo, but for an ordinary man the task is nearly impossible. If he should manage to cut off the wendigo's head, that head will only reunite with the monstrous body. Any bullet other than a silver one would be useless against him. A human bitten by a wendigo will unavoidably become one and simply dreaming of the creature can affect the transformation."
Thomas McIntyre "Spirit of the North"
wendigo_plus_by_mythrilgolem1-d6gg6dd.jpg