Tuesday, May 22, 2012

When does Percy die?

Percy-Boyd Staunton (later shortened to Boy Staunton) does
not die until the third book of the series World of Wonders.  He is
killed, or is suggested into killing himself, by Magnus Eisengrim.  Magnus Eisengrim was
once a little boy in the same town as Percy-Boyd and Dunny, and it was his mother, Mary
Dempster, whose madness was caused by Percy-Boyd all those years
ago.


When Dunny and Percy-Boyd were coming home from
sledding, Percy threw a snowball (later revealed to have a rock inside it) at Dunny. 
Dunny ducked, and the snowball hit the pregnant Mary Dempster.  She had her premature
baby that night, and was never right in the head again.  Eventually she sunk into
complete madness, and was cared for most of her adult life by Dunny.  Percy never took
responsibility for this action, and it is not entirely clear that he even really
understood his culpability.


Magnus (little Paul Dempster,
then) ran away from home and joined the travelling circus, because of his mother's
disgrace and madness and his father's controlling ways.  There he was horribly treated
and lead a life which he blamed on Percy (he didn't fully understand whose fault it was
until the night he met Boy Staunton as an adult).  Magnus says that he only suggested
that Boy Staunton kill himself.  Magnus was such a consummate magician and hypnotist
that he may have been able to do such a thing, but it is also possible that Magnus
somehow made Boy drive his car into the water.  It is not entirely clear at the end of
the novel what happened, but it is clear that Magnus is in some way responsible for
Boy's death -- just not how much!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment on the setting and character of "The Fall of the House of Usher."How does setting act as a character?

Excellent observation, as it identifies how the settings of Poe's stories reflect the characters of their protagonists. Whet...