Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
and in any case, the boys don't respect her for it. She's ruined their fun and excitement (so what if their fun requires women to be murdered?).
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They're 10-12 years old. They
probably didn't have a realistic idea of what was going on with the Lonely One. It was like a game to them. I know when I was growing up (1980s and 90s about an hour from where
this guy lived) I was well insulated from the true fright and horror of what was going on in the world. I had heard of the Green River Killer but it was always in the abstract. Do you really think their parent's were letting them get enough gory details to really understand what was happening?
Also, note that Doug, the one who was there when Lavinia found the body, did not have the same reaction as the other two boys. Unfortunately he had seen the horrors of our world and was forced to realize how awful the world can be and what the "monster" he used to think was entertaining actually was. I know I hope my kids never have to grow up that fast!
The only real illustration I can think of that shows the difference between what the kids probably thought and what Doug ended up knowing is from religion. Hopefully that is ok.
To me, the growing up that Doug had when he saw the body and got some understanding is like the difference between growing up hearing that "Jesus died on the cross" (which really doesn't mean much to someone who doesn't have the experience to understand what that meant) and watching Jesus die on the cross in "The Passion of the Christ". Just hearing it versus seeing how brutal that death probably was is an entirely different thing. Before you "know" what happened, after watching, you
knowwhat happened.