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Neil Gaiman's 'Murder Mysteries' short story (SPOILERS)
06 Dec 2011 11:24 - 06 Dec 2011 11:25 #109406
by wice
Neil Gaiman's 'Murder Mysteries' short story (SPOILERS) was created by wice
I'm currently reading Smokes and Mirrors, and this story blew me away. It immediately replaced 'A Study in Emerald' as my favorite Neil Gaiman short story.
Here's the thing: I think I more-or-less understand the hidden layers of the story, but I have unanswered questions, and would like to discuss them. If any of you haven't read it yet, I would recommend you to close this topic NOW, then go and read the story, and try to figure it out. It's really worth it, so don't spoil it to yourselves.
OK, now that we have some privacy, here's my understanding of Murder Mysteries in spoilervision (click on the spoiler warning to see it):
The narrator of the story is not some random guy. He's actually Raguel, the instrument of God's vengeance. The homeless guy is not Raguel. He's Lucifer (see his 'I never fell' monologue).
The narrator (Raguel) killed Tink, her friend and her child, Susan. Why? The clue is in the description of Tink and Susan. Susan, unlike her black-haired mother, is blonde and beautiful, "just like her father". The only other person who is explicitely described like that is Lucifer. So, Susan is Lucifer's child, the Antichrist or something like that. Her drawing, two angels flying over the perfect city is the depiction of her and her father taking over Heaven. Raguel was sent to kill her, as part of God's plan. The homeless guy, Lucifer, takes away Raguels memories of these events, to protect him from guilt. He doesn't hate Raguel for what he had done, because he understands that he just plays his part of the big plan, as he himself does.
My only problems are these:
1. Why does Neil Gaiman say that there are four obvious murders? Is there any other murder in the story aside the death of the angel in Heaven, and the two women's and the child's? (Hmmm, maybe Raguel dies at the end in the elevator, because Lucifer couldn't forgive him?)
2. Why is the friend of Tink (the woman who drove the narrator to Tink's house) the favorite character of Neil Gaiman?
3. Maybe #2 has something to do with this question: why does the friend of Tink have to die? She's seemingly irrelevant to the story.
Here's the thing: I think I more-or-less understand the hidden layers of the story, but I have unanswered questions, and would like to discuss them. If any of you haven't read it yet, I would recommend you to close this topic NOW, then go and read the story, and try to figure it out. It's really worth it, so don't spoil it to yourselves.
OK, now that we have some privacy, here's my understanding of Murder Mysteries in spoilervision (click on the spoiler warning to see it):
Warning: Spoiler!
The narrator of the story is not some random guy. He's actually Raguel, the instrument of God's vengeance. The homeless guy is not Raguel. He's Lucifer (see his 'I never fell' monologue).
The narrator (Raguel) killed Tink, her friend and her child, Susan. Why? The clue is in the description of Tink and Susan. Susan, unlike her black-haired mother, is blonde and beautiful, "just like her father". The only other person who is explicitely described like that is Lucifer. So, Susan is Lucifer's child, the Antichrist or something like that. Her drawing, two angels flying over the perfect city is the depiction of her and her father taking over Heaven. Raguel was sent to kill her, as part of God's plan. The homeless guy, Lucifer, takes away Raguels memories of these events, to protect him from guilt. He doesn't hate Raguel for what he had done, because he understands that he just plays his part of the big plan, as he himself does.
My only problems are these:
1. Why does Neil Gaiman say that there are four obvious murders? Is there any other murder in the story aside the death of the angel in Heaven, and the two women's and the child's? (Hmmm, maybe Raguel dies at the end in the elevator, because Lucifer couldn't forgive him?)
2. Why is the friend of Tink (the woman who drove the narrator to Tink's house) the favorite character of Neil Gaiman?
3. Maybe #2 has something to do with this question: why does the friend of Tink have to die? She's seemingly irrelevant to the story.
Last edit: 06 Dec 2011 11:25 by wice.
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06 Dec 2011 15:22 #109424
by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Re: Neil Gaiman's 'Murder Mysteries' short story (SPOILERS)
I've read both the short story and the wonderful comic book version drawn by P. Craig Russell, and I took the story more at face value. I think the random guy is a random guy, and homeless guy is R and not L. The comment "I never fell" could be interpreted as L disputing his reputation, but I took it to mean that R was proud that he never fell and voluntarily left Heaven due to disillusionment with God. I also think that Neil Gaiman really hates to get a BJ when he's in the mood for some intercourse.
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07 Dec 2011 11:30 #109497
by wice
Replied by wice on topic Re: Neil Gaiman's 'Murder Mysteries' short story (SPOILERS)
After reading the graphic novel, it became clear that the homeless guy is R, not L. He really looks like R, only older. (BTW, I was a bit disappointed by the depiction of angels, their faces are characteristically male. I would prefer them to look a bit more androgynous.)
On the other hand, K's daugther definitely looks similar to L, so I think they were killed because of it. I'm not sure about the protagonist, though. Maybe he became the new Vengeance of God, after R left, or maybe God now uses random psychos to do his work.
Also, I find it strange, that K says "I love you", to which the protagonist says "Thank you". I have no idea what it's supposed to mean.
Anyway, the ambiguity makes this story awesome, it forces you to think about it again and again. Maybe it's better not to know all the answers.
On the other hand, K's daugther definitely looks similar to L, so I think they were killed because of it. I'm not sure about the protagonist, though. Maybe he became the new Vengeance of God, after R left, or maybe God now uses random psychos to do his work.
Also, I find it strange, that K says "I love you", to which the protagonist says "Thank you". I have no idea what it's supposed to mean.
Anyway, the ambiguity makes this story awesome, it forces you to think about it again and again. Maybe it's better not to know all the answers.
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07 Dec 2011 15:18 #109506
by Shellhead
When someone says "I love you" and you reply "thank you," it makes for a wonderfully awkward moment, when you both realize that the feeling isn't mutual. It was a running gag during one episode of the first season of The O.C.
Yeah, ambiguity can be great in a story, leaving things open to interpretation and making the story a personal thing for each reader. However, too much ambiguity can ruin a story for me. At a basic level, a story is a series of related events, and a good story will leave the reader anxious to know what happens next. A ending that is so ambiguous that I don't even have a clue what happened at the end is useless to me... the writer might as well have just stopped writing in the middle of a random sentence. (I'm looking at you, Gene Wolfe.) All that said, I thought Murder Mystery was excellent and the amount of ambiguity was just right. I don't blindly love everything that Gaiman has written, but this was one of my favorites.
Replied by Shellhead on topic Re: Neil Gaiman's 'Murder Mysteries' short story (SPOILERS)
wice wrote: After reading the graphic novel, it became clear that the homeless guy is R, not L. He really looks like R, only older. (BTW, I was a bit disappointed by the depiction of angels, their faces are characteristically male. I would prefer them to look a bit more androgynous.)
On the other hand, K's daugther definitely looks similar to L, so I think they were killed because of it. I'm not sure about the protagonist, though. Maybe he became the new Vengeance of God, after R left, or maybe God now uses random psychos to do his work.
Also, I find it strange, that K says "I love you", to which the protagonist says "Thank you". I have no idea what it's supposed to mean.
Anyway, the ambiguity makes this story awesome, it forces you to think about it again and again. Maybe it's better not to know all the answers.
When someone says "I love you" and you reply "thank you," it makes for a wonderfully awkward moment, when you both realize that the feeling isn't mutual. It was a running gag during one episode of the first season of The O.C.
Yeah, ambiguity can be great in a story, leaving things open to interpretation and making the story a personal thing for each reader. However, too much ambiguity can ruin a story for me. At a basic level, a story is a series of related events, and a good story will leave the reader anxious to know what happens next. A ending that is so ambiguous that I don't even have a clue what happened at the end is useless to me... the writer might as well have just stopped writing in the middle of a random sentence. (I'm looking at you, Gene Wolfe.) All that said, I thought Murder Mystery was excellent and the amount of ambiguity was just right. I don't blindly love everything that Gaiman has written, but this was one of my favorites.
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