Unlike Jimmy and Sean, Dave's fate was located on the Path of Abrupt Endings. Dave was never able to reach his true potential. The first path that Fate cut short for Dave was his childhood. When Dave gets in the car with the "police officer and priest," his fate was sealed. One can only imagine the pain and torture Dave was put through during his time in captivity. Therein lies the end of one of the most essential parts of childhood-innocence. Children are supposed to be full of imagination and nativity. Children aren't supposed to be exposed to the "real world" because the real world is a place of darkness where evil exists. Dave's innocence was cut off, hence people referred to Dave as a "damaged boy." The only character who could relate to Dave's emotions is the deceased Katie Markum, a girl who was naive and assumed someone younger than her would never kill.
Fate cuts Dave's life path off for good after Jimmy assumes Dave killed Katie. Jimmy kills Dave as a sort of karmic retribution and so Jimmy can feel as if Katie can rest in peace. Perhaps, Fate felt that Dave could finally die after he told his wife about his kidnapping or after he beat the bloody hell out of a pedophile to release his inner demons and PTSD?
At the end of the movie, it is shown that Jimmy and Sean completely wrote their names in the wet cement, while Dave's name was halfway complete. His writing was cut short by the "police officer." This holds a deeper meaning to the bonds and friendships of the three boys; Dave's friendships ended abruptly after he was kidnapped. Fate felt that Dave should no longer have close friends. In Dave's world, Jimmy and Sean looked out for each other before they looked out for Dave, which is clearly shown when Sean is suspicious that Jimmy killed Dave, but does nothing. Would the three boys behave differently if someone else (besides Dave) got into the car?
I like how you brought in the connection of Katie and Dave. It is true that they both were harmed in an ironic way, Dave went with a man who he believed was a trusted man of law, and Katie was killed by two kids who are presumably thought to be at the innocent stage of their lives. Also how both of them were harmed by two males, Dave's were much older than him and Katie's were younger than her!
ReplyDeleteI love the observation made connecting to the names in the cement. The producer/writer of the movie did a wonderful job putting in the slightest symbolization for the names written in the pavement. The name in the cement that is only half complete symbolized unity and as many can tell Dave's unity between his "friends" is incomplete.
ReplyDeleteI love the observation made connecting to the names in the cement. The producer/writer of the movie did a wonderful job putting in the slightest symbolization for the names written in the pavement. The name in the cement that is only half complete symbolized unity and as many can tell Dave's unity between his "friends" is incomplete.
ReplyDeleteI feel like those cops knew what they were doing when they told him to get into the car. They picked the weakest link who they got the most information out of and took advantage. I feel like Jimmy killing Dave wasn't the best choice but for Dave he didn't mind. It was better to be dead then to live with those disturbing memories from his childhood. I think him not finishing his name shows how his life was cut short and how he never really got to live his life he he wanted and to be happy because of what happened in those days he was gone.
ReplyDelete