fraser's dead mommy

[schmerica]

Okay, so I've seen Call of the Wild quite a few times now, right? And the one thing that I still don't get is the Muldoon-killing-Caroline-Fraser thing. I mean, the dialogue goes like this:

Fraser: Why didn't you tell me?

Bob: It seems misguided now but you were so young at the time, just a young boy. I was full of rage I didn't want to pass that to you. I wanted to protect you.

But I still don't get -- how did Fraser think his mother died? Did he never wonder about it? Did they have a different version that they told him (Fraser's saying "why didn't you tell me" there, not "why did you lie to me?", which seems different)? Where was he when this happened? Wouldn't he have been around? He remembers other stuff from that age and younger. Was it just something never mention ever in the whole rest of his life?

This plagues my mind, really. I suppose it might just be one of those things you have to fill in for yourself, but it bugs me nonetheless.

Comments

[katallison.livejournal.com]

This is a really interesting question, so much so that I thought of essentially reposting it in ds_discourse, along with my speculations, but the etiquette of that seemed a bit sketchy, so instead I put up a link to this entry--hope you don't mind. *g*

Anyway, I really don't know what they had in mind with it, and, moving beyond the ultimately ungratifying "They just pulled it out of their ass" explanation, I see two options:

1. He thought she'd died accidentally. Maybe he was away--visiting his grandparents or something--and was told an untruth. This wouldn't, however, provide a rationale for his father's sudden frenzied pursuit of Muldoon, who (if I'm remembering correctly) had been a friend up until that point. That's something Fraser would be aware of (from rereading the journals if nothing else), would ponder, and almost certainly follow up on. I mean, OK, there's the whole trafficking-in-rare-species explanation, but. Hrm.

2. He knew she'd been murdered, but didn't know that Muldoon was the one who did it. Same issue as above, and really doesn't make any sense. If Fraser thought his mother had been murdered, he would have moved *heaven and earth* to make sure he knew for certain who had done it, and that that person had been properly punished.

One could also go a repressed memory route (he was there, saw what happened, blocked out relevant details), which -- um. Has problems. Though I'm sort of working that angle in something I'm writing.

While we're at it, the rationale for Muldoon killing Caroline is also unexplained (unless I'm forgetting something). Again, it's noteworthy that Muldoon and Bob Fraser were originally friends; Muldoon might have been a guest in the Fraser cabin at times. Which can lead one's thinking in some icky directions.

Anyway. Cool stuff for speculation and fictional hole-plugging.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

This is a really interesting question, so much so that I thought of essentially reposting it in ds_discourse, along with my speculations, but the etiquette of that seemed a bit sketchy, so instead I put up a link to this entry--hope you don't mind. *g*

Oh, no, of course not! And, mmm, your thoughts are really interesting and well-stated.

Again, it's noteworthy that Muldoon and Bob Fraser were originally friends; Muldoon might have been a guest in the Fraser cabin at times. Which can lead one's thinking in some icky directions.

Huh, yeah. It never did *before*, but now that you mention it.