Jud's past

[AirTheBand]

Hi all.

Pet Sematary is full of what seems to be little "throwaway" lines, brief comments made in passing but nonetheless hugely profound. A line regarding Louis's visit to a "whore" in Chicago "six years ago" (at which time we know he was already married to Rachel, then pregnant with Ellie) is a good example. Why mention it? What does it really mean in regards to the greater context of the story? And heck, why did he do it? Like the "stony" nature of men's hearts, Pet Sematary is full of these curious little complexities.

One other little tidbit that has REALLY been nagging at me since re-reading the novel this week (I first read it in 10th Grade, eleven years ago) is the line which says (paraphrasing here) that as of the burying of Louis's cat, Church, the last time Jud had been up to the MicMac burial ground was "twelve years ago." I have been scratching my head over this one since reading it. What business would Jud, an old man, have up there? He seems to allude to the burying of his dog, Spot, in 1910, as his last true encounter with the burial ground. Perhaps he helped some other poor soul resurrect a beloved pet up there, but it's strongly suggested in the novel that introducing Louis to the grounds was his dutiful passing on of the "secret" given to him by the French rag and bone man, whose father passed it to him, and so on.

So, what does this mean, then? Has anyone else noticed this?

[GLewman]

I think it is just SK's style of bringing some depth to the characters in his stories. Much like the old saying that a woman is sexier when she leaves a little something to the imagination. We tend to fill in these little bits ourselves and it connects us to the larger story as a whole?

[GNTLGNT]

I feel that there's a certain irresistible attraction to that which is off limits...we may be able to stay away for long periods of time-but that tidal pull of-call it curiosity if you like, always drags us back...in other words, we just can't keep our collective noses out of any dang thing...

[jcadams]

Just reread this and don't remember Jud saying he had been there 12 years before, was he at the burial ground, or at the sematary? Maybe he was visiting Spot?

[bobledrew]

Hi all.

Pet Sematary is full of what seems to be little "throwaway" lines, brief comments made in passing but nonetheless hugely profound. A line regarding Louis's visit to a "whore" in Chicago "six years ago" (at which time we know he was already married to Rachel, then pregnant with Ellie) is a good example. Why mention it? What does it really mean in regards to the greater context of the story? And heck, why did he do it? Like the "stony" nature of men's hearts, Pet Sematary is full of these curious little complexities.

One other little tidbit that has REALLY been nagging at me since re-reading the novel this week (I first read it in 10th Grade, eleven years ago) is the line which says (paraphrasing here) that as of the burying of Louis's cat, Church, the last time Jud had been up to the MicMac burial ground was "twelve years ago." I have been scratching my head over this one since reading it. What business would Jud, an old man, have up there? He seems to allude to the burying of his dog, Spot, in 1910, as his last true encounter with the burial ground. Perhaps he helped some other poor soul resurrect a beloved pet up there, but it's strongly suggested in the novel that introducing Louis to the grounds was his dutiful passing on of the "secret" given to him by the French rag and bone man, whose father passed it to him, and so on.

So, what does this mean, then? Has anyone else noticed this?

I think from a technical standpoint that King puts that line in about Louis to paint him as someone who has (like many of us) a certain amount of selfishness. Lou is a proud man -- proud enough to bristle at Irwin's attempts to buy him; proud enough to be outraged when Rachel comes back with clothes for the kids from a visit to the family.

The visit to a prostitute suggests that Lou might have felt neglected by Rachel, or rejected, and sought out the hooker in an attempt to provide instant fulfilment. Louis has a childish streak in him -- I imagine him with an "I-want" line.

As to Jud's past visit? Maybe he took someone else up there with a pet. As he says to Louis (and I'm paraphrasing the book here too) 'I knew I shouldn't have told you but the place just takes hold of you and you end up sharing it even though you know that you shouldn't'... and in the end, I believe that summarizes Louis's reaction to his visit to the whore.

And keep in mind that Timmy Baterman identifies Jud as a "whoremaster" as well, which is one more tie between Louis and Jud.

[vcalio372]

Hi, just posted something about this very topic that is still under review about the moderators (you can read it in full when it's posted), but I think many of your questions could be answered if one buys in to the interpretation that perhaps Jud's wife, Norma, did in fact die years before the novel takes place, and that Jud brought her back to life, and unlike Timmy Baterman, she somehow comes back relatively normal, albeit "a little dead."

[MistahJ]

I've noticed it with every SK book I've read...He puts, what seems to be, the most insignificant details about what a character thinks or their past or a plant twenty miles away...

I think the "twelve years ago" was just a slip-up on Jud's part...I don't think he meant to say that to Louis...Some sort of a secret about someone else being buried there besides Timmy.

[costanza]

I also got a weird feeling about Jud on the night of Gage's wake when Jud comes over and isn't leaving until he can come in and tell him the Baterman story. He seemed like he was going to just push his way inside but at the last instant he says something like, are you going to invite me in or not?
They do live fairly close to The Lot after all.

[JohnnySmithForPresident]

This is my first post on one of the forums, so forgive me if it's a little tentative. But the theory that Jud resurrected Norma is one that never crossed my mind until now. But now that I look at it in that light, it makes perfect sense. The line where he tells Louis that he hasn't been up to the Micmac burial ground in 12 years always had me wondering...what was he doing up there 12 years ago? Perhaps burying Norma? I love it when Steve leaves little things like that up to our imagination.