Murther & Walking SpiritsMurther and Walking Spirits is, in a way, another ghost story, a genre Davies visited in his short story collection High Spirits (1982). In the very first sentence of the novel, "Gil" Gilmartin, the protagonist and narrator, is a film critic who comes home to find his attractive wife having an affair with a nerdy coworker, who strikes him with a walking stick in fear, causing his death. His ghost then attends a strange film festival. While the attendees see actual films, Gilmartin is shown "films" detailing the lives of his ancestors, such as one who was a Tory during the American Revolution or another who was a master carpenter who married a blue-blooded woman, only to have it end in a nasty divorce. The films, dealing as they do with more and more recent subjects, bring the novel to its modern-day conclusion. Gilmartin's ghost is able to cross over when his killer confesses to the newspaper editor, who chides him for the sin, but also for society in general: "It's a hot dinner for the wrongdoer and the victims struggle". Rather than surrender the killer to the authorities, the editor says his punishment should be to carry that walking stick for the rest of his life, akin to a "mark of Cain". Gilmartin also learns that prior to his death, he had impregnated his wife, and his ancestors' tribulations may have been shown to him as a sign the bloodline will continue. The final scene is where Gilmartin finds himself in the sky, being addressed by a feminine voice. Thinking it at first to be his deceased mother, she says she is not, but "the woman in the man", thinking of a remark one of his newspaper coworkers made. |
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Page 162
... talk with you . " The face continues to stare , but slowly another hand comes into sight , and it beckons ; the hand that holds the knife gestures toward the front door . The young man , shaken but determined , trudges back through the ...
... talk with you . " The face continues to stare , but slowly another hand comes into sight , and it beckons ; the hand that holds the knife gestures toward the front door . The young man , shaken but determined , trudges back through the ...
Page 167
... talk . There aren't many I can talk to , but I'm going to talk to you , boy . You've got to know what's what . You think I'm an old devil , don't you ? That's what my daughters call me . The Old Devil . Don't dispute it . Isn't that ...
... talk . There aren't many I can talk to , but I'm going to talk to you , boy . You've got to know what's what . You think I'm an old devil , don't you ? That's what my daughters call me . The Old Devil . Don't dispute it . Isn't that ...
Page 190
... talking to this fine lady , whose scent of violets he detects ? Will there be any talk if he is seen with her , lallygagging right in the street ? " I've thought - " says Mrs. Long - Pott - Ott , " I've thought now and then , that I'd ...
... talking to this fine lady , whose scent of violets he detects ? Will there be any talk if he is seen with her , lallygagging right in the street ? " I've thought - " says Mrs. Long - Pott - Ott , " I've thought now and then , that I'd ...
Contents
Roughly Translated | 3 |
Cain Raised | 35 |
Of Water and the Holy Spirit | 93 |
Copyright | |
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appears become better bring British Brochwel brother brought called Canada certainly church clothes comes course curse don't Elizabeth Esme eyes face father feeling figure film Gilmartin girls give hand head hear heard heart hope it's John keep kind King knew known land leave lived look Malvina marriage married matter McOmish mean mind mother never night once perhaps play poor Rhodri Roger Samuel scene seems seen sense side Sniffer sort speak spirit stand Street suppose sure talk tell That's thing Thomas thought told town traveller turn understand voice walk Walter wear Welsh wife woman women young