Louis: Point of View

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DecoderFan71

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I am not all that convinced that Louis was killed at the end of the novel when Rachel came back from the dead because it mentions in the story at least twice that Louis had looked back on things when he could bear to think about them. Any thoughts on this ?
 

Doc Creed

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I am not all that convinced that Louis was killed at the end of the novel when Rachel came back from the dead because it mentions in the story at least twice that Louis had looked back on things when he could bear to think about them. Any thoughts on this ?
I've already shared my thoughts on this. I'll watch as others respond. Maybe you should share the quotes for the other members so that they know to what moments you are referring.
 

Mocos

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Mar 6, 2016
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I am not all that convinced that Louis was killed at the end of the novel when Rachel came back from the dead because it mentions in the story at least twice that Louis had looked back on things when he could bear to think about them. Any thoughts on this ?
I don't think he died. There were many cases where the pet that comes back is kept for a while, and then put down again just because it wasn't the same. It wasn't right. I seem to recall some pets that seemed rather brain-dead. Now, Rachel doesn't seem that ...docile? But perhaps she's controllable. And not_nadine is right. It would be better, certainly for Louis, if Rachel kills him. But isn't it sadder that he lives and has to control this thing he's made that looks so much like Rachel? And then, ultimately, have to kill her again? Because that's always what has to happen to those you bury back in those woods, beyond the deadfall.
For me, the horror in this book comes from seeing a loved one so transformed... so altered... that they're unrecognizable. Literally, unrecognizable. If you didn't know it was them, you would never be able to tell for yourself. But what makes it horrifying is that you do know it's them! And even worse, it's not a physical alteration, but a spiritual one. And the horror doesn't quite stop there... the transformation is one that you, being the person who loved this pet (or person *shudder*), made happen. I've read and watched too much "horror" to be too creeped out by reading about a malicious zombie putting it's hand on someone's shoulder.
 

DecoderFan71

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here is what supports my opinion : "Looking back on it, Louis would think-when he could bear to think about it at all-that the nightmare really began when they brought the dying boy, Victor Pascow, into the infirmary around ten that morning." (page 54) and in the the first paragraph of Chapter 35 where it says "The things that were to come, poised above them like a killing sashweight, were still over seven weeks in the future, but looking over those seven weeks he found nothing which stood out with the same color." So if he had been killed by the revenant Rachel, how could he have been able to look back ?
 

DecoderFan71

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Feb 25, 2016
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I don't think he died. There were many cases where the pet that comes back is kept for a while, and then put down again just because it wasn't the same. It wasn't right. I seem to recall some pets that seemed rather brain-dead. Now, Rachel doesn't seem that ...docile? But perhaps she's controllable. And not_nadine is right. It would be better, certainly for Louis, if Rachel kills him. But isn't it sadder that he lives and has to control this thing he's made that looks so much like Rachel? And then, ultimately, have to kill her again? Because that's always what has to happen to those you bury back in those woods, beyond the deadfall.
For me, the horror in this book comes from seeing a loved one so transformed... so altered... that they're unrecognizable. Literally, unrecognizable. If you didn't know it was them, you would never be able to tell for yourself. But what makes it horrifying is that you do know it's them! And even worse, it's not a physical alteration, but a spiritual one. And the horror doesn't quite stop there... the transformation is one that you, being the person who loved this pet (or person *shudder*), made happen. I've read and watched too much "horror" to be too creeped out by reading about a malicious zombie putting it's hand on someone's shoulder.
How was Spot killed again other than old age? Because on page 146, Jud had told Louis that he was still a good dog after he had come back and on the first page of Chapter 38, Jud had said that Spot had died a second time.
 

kingricefan

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Jul 11, 2006
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How was Spot killed again other than old age? Because on page 146, Jud had told Louis that he was still a good dog after he had come back and on the first page of Chapter 38, Jud had said that Spot had died a second time.
I thought that someone (Jud himself, perhaps, as a form of punishment by his Father for taking Spot up to the burial ground) shot Spot.
 

DecoderFan71

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Feb 25, 2016
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I

I thought that someone (Jud himself, perhaps, as a form of punishment by his Father for taking Spot up to the burial ground) shot Spot.
Stanny Bouchard took him up there, his father never did because he knew from what he had heard about it, that the burial ground was a bad place. His father had shot the dog after he ran into some barbed wire and the wounds had gotten infected. I don't think it was really explained how Spot died the second time, if he hadn't died of old age, unless I missed something.
 

Aloysius Nell

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here is what supports my opinion : "Looking back on it, Louis would think-when he could bear to think about it at all-that the nightmare really began when they brought the dying boy, Victor Pascow, into the infirmary around ten that morning." (page 54) and in the the first paragraph of Chapter 35 where it says "The things that were to come, poised above them like a killing sashweight, were still over seven weeks in the future, but looking over those seven weeks he found nothing which stood out with the same color." So if he had been killed by the revenant Rachel, how could he have been able to look back ?

That was early in the novel. There were months and months before the events that began with Gage's death. Then, several more days until the final scene. I imagine Louis did a lot of thinking back during that time. I'm sure that's what he was referencing. Saying he "looked back" on events does not logically mean that he did it after the entire novel's events occurred.

Where are we getting the idea that Rachel killed him right then? From the really bad movie? Or just from Gage turning homicidal? I'm not at all sure that Gage wasn't an abnormal reaction to the burying ground. Maybe due to his age, the evil was able to get a firmer ground in him, unlike the kid brought home from the war and buried. I think he would have had to kill her instead.

To sum up - the movie sucked.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
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That was early in the novel. There were months and months before the events that began with Gage's death. Then, several more days until the final scene. I imagine Louis did a lot of thinking back during that time. I'm sure that's what he was referencing. Saying he "looked back" on events does not logically mean that he did it after the entire novel's events occurred.

Where are we getting the idea that Rachel killed him right then? From the really bad movie? Or just from Gage turning homicidal? I'm not at all sure that Gage wasn't an abnormal reaction to the burying ground. Maybe due to his age, the evil was able to get a firmer ground in him, unlike the kid brought home from the war and buried. I think he would have had to kill her instead.

To sum up - the movie sucked.
Gage came back evil because of how much time had passed between his death and Louis taking him up to the Micmac burial ground. He took Rachel very quickly after her death. Going by the very last line of the novel:
" 'Darling.' it said." By using 'it' instead of 'she' that leads me to believe that what came back was a monster, not Rachel. That's my interpretation.
 

DecoderFan71

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Feb 25, 2016
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Gage came back evil because of how much time had passed between his death and Louis taking him up to the Micmac burial ground. He took Rachel very quickly after her death. Going by the very last line of the novel:
" 'Darling.' it said." By using 'it' instead of 'she' that leads me to believe that what came back was a monster, not Rachel. That's my interpretation.
I thought he what he meant by "it" was Rachel's voice, but I can see your point.
 

Mocos

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Mar 6, 2016
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How was Spot killed again other than old age? Because on page 146, Jud had told Louis that he was still a good dog after he had come back and on the first page of Chapter 38, Jud had said that Spot had died a second time.
If I remember right, I don't think the burial ground was always bad. Seems to me that the presence of the wendigo poisoned the burial ground, probably more so over time. If true, this would help explain a high probability that Rachel came back with unkind intentions.
 

Doc Creed

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Nov 18, 2015
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I am not all that convinced that Louis was killed at the end of the novel when Rachel came back from the dead because it mentions in the story at least twice that Louis had looked back on things when he could bear to think about them. Any thoughts on this ?
An interesting side note that may suggest he died was that Rachel tells Louis about Ellie's premonition/dream in which she sees Louis sitting at the kitchen table one morning, dead, his eyes wide open, Steve Masterton screaming. This is not only foreshadowing the climax but, given the perfect foresight of Ellie's other dreams, she may be predicting her father's death.