Atdtda35: Payday, 1005-1006 #1
Paul Nightingale
isread at btinternet.com
Mon Dec 3 14:47:29 CST 2012
And so to the end of Scarsdale Vibe, and hindsight provides a clear
indication that it might well be Foley Walker, rather than one of the
Traverse brothers, who kills him. In Venice, on 743, Vibe delights in the
death of an Anarchist enemy; Walker, however, 'for whom it had once been the
vernacular of daily life in a Union regiment, st[ands] by and [doesn't]
comment'. A page later, Vibe finds Walker dancing: 'Just happy they didn't
get you.' There is no response from Vibe, the narrative commenting: 'If
Scarsdale heard an emphasis on 'they' he gave no indication.' (744)
In this chapter, the narrative in recent pages had indeed prepared us for
this moment. The distance between Vibe and Walker is made explicit on 1001
and, at the bottom of that page Vibe is confronted by the 'malignant
presence' with Walker elsewhere. On 1002, Vibe discusses this incident with
Walker: 'It doesn't matter, Foley, it's all in the hands of Jesus, isn't
it.' On 1004 Ewball tells Frank about Walker: 'They say Foley's a born-again
Christer, so he can act as bad as he wants ...' etc. On 1006, as Walker
shoots him, Vibe's 'Lord, Foley ...' is answered with an insistent 'Jesus is
Lord'. This is the first time Walker has invoked religious belief in
justification of his actions, although we might now consider earlier
references, of any kind, to religion.
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