3A Independent Reading discussion

Have you ever lost someone that you truly felt a connection with or had feelings for? The book took a real turn for the worst when Warthrop and Will find themselves hunting down the remains of John Chandler only to find that John's wife and Warthrop's previous lover, horrifically mutilated atop a mountain of feces. "Where? Warthrop demanded. Byrnes pointed to the top of the hill, and Warthrop started up the slick slope to the top. It was a hard climb; he sunk to his calves in the muck."(pg. 329) And once he had reached the top he only found Muriel Chandler's eyes with the face completely stripped and heart gone. Warthrop was distraught in his descent, but who wouldn't be if something like this happened to someone you loved. And just to add to his problems, "'Pellinore Warthrop,' Byrnes formally intoned, 'I am placing you under arrest for suspicion of murder.'" (pg. 330) So after torture and being cleared by the police, both Will and Warthrop resumed the hunt for John and after they find him in a sewer, Will ends up having to save Warthrop by killing John. If there is one thing that this book has shone more than anything, it is that trauma can hugely affect how someone acts and that emotionally, it can destroy you extremely fast.

The amount of devastation that Will and Warthrop are going to have to endure is staggering. I'd have to wonder what John's motives were to cause all of this carnage, and, if and how Will and Warthrop are going to recover. John would have to be incredibly determined to kill his wife if he did it so disrespectfully atop a pile of feces, or I suppose he was completely psychotic. The question will likely remain unanswered forever since he took that information with him to his grave.