CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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The first time I read the novel, I admit I thought about the same, that it would be weird to live there after what happened. But I changed my mind after reading about the carpenter and that Regan had to be sleeping with Chris. Also, during those 6 weeks, I’m sure Chris kept herself busy taking care of Regan so her mind wouldn’t think about the strange phenomena. I mean, she’s the kind of woman who would say, “I have to get on with my life not get stuck in the past.” She also wanted to attend the funeral of Karras and Merrin, maybe that’s why she didn’t leave for L.A sooner, too.
Maybe the carpenter was super sexy, lol.
I don’t know when the funerals took place. Blatty didn’t mention it.
Hmmm then she probably didn’t go to L.A or a hotel because people would see that there was something very wrong with Regan and it would get around. Remember when she went to the clinic in Dayton? She selected a wig to wear so people wouldn’t recognize her.
“Or do you mean they were all crazy and they only imagined everything?”
When did I ever imply this? What I meant was that right until the end, readers can be doubtful. It was Blatty’s intention to lead the reader toward a suspension of disbelief. That’s why he never stated Regan was really possessed.
“The fact is: 3 people have died there and many horrible things have happened in that room…”
Sure, but they probably didn’t even go to the room. Only on the last day to pack Regan’s suitcase.
“Mmmmh, I read the book again just last week and I don’t get at all at this intentional suspension of disbelief, sorry…”
Ummm, then maybe you should read it again. Blatty has written a lot of times that his intention for the novel was to keep a mystery of whether or not Regan was possessed.
Blatty:”… is this little girl possessed or is she emotionally unbalanced? In approaching it, my tactic was to work with an M.D. who was concerned only with ailments of the body and a psychiatrist.”
I started a thread about this in the book section, and as granville said, “part of Blatty’s art is to allow a modicum of multiple choice without forcing a conclusion on the reader. The book would have suffered if the author’s meaning had been chiseled in stone.”
From reviewers: (mostly from amazon)
“No matter what happens in the book, an alternate non-supernatural explanation is given with lots of research to back it up. That is the reason this book has been described as the Einstein of horror stories.”“In fact, up till the novel’s conclusion, the author (Blatty) does such a superb job of describing the psychological aspects of Regan’s behaviour that we are continually caught between the belief that she was truly possessed, and the notion that she was mentally ill.”
“The book mentions many scientific theories on paranormal activities, they help to maintain an “investigative” style of storytelling that serves to heighten the drama.”
Like I said I love the mystery of whether or not she’s possessed and most people get enjoyment from it, as well. Too bad that you didn’t.
“mmmmhhh, And where is written that Regan went only that day in her room? You suppose it is like this, but it is not written in the book…”
That’s why I said, they probably didn’t go to the room. I was assuming. On the first draft screenplay, carpenters were repairing Regan’s broken window during the time she and Chris stayed there. So why would Regan go to the room? I’m sure she wasn’t interested in seeing carpenters working. 🙂 So it makes sense that she only went there to pack her bags.
I only pasted those reviews because I thought you didn’t believe it was Blatty’s intention to keep the mystery of whether or not she was possessed. I didn’t understand you either. Sorry.
“Or do you mean Kindermann’s seculations at the end?”
Blatty never stated she had been possessed, that’s what I meant: “It was now six weeks since the shock. Since the closed investigation by Kinderman. And still there were no answers. Only hauting speculation and frequent awakenings from sleep in tears.”
“Does a carpenter need six weeks to repair a window? He needs one day!”
lol, but on the first draft, he was still fixing it with new shutters while Regan was packing. If he only started working on it that day, it means the glass of the window remained totally shattered for 6 weeks, so Chris wouldn’t let her daughter go into the room, right? 🙂
No, it’s not wrong! That’s what it says, “It was now six weeks since the death of the priests. Since the shock…”
“Concerning the carpenter: you are talking about something that it doesn’t belong to the book.”
I think the carpenter was in the original version of the epilogue. Chris goes upstairs to Regan’s bedroom and Rags is frowning. She looks to her mother and asks what happened to the man in the funny black dress. But Harper & Row suggested that Blatty should drop that passage to make the ending less obvious.
Carpenter part of the first draft:
With a sigh from resignation, Regan looked down at the animals. The she turned toward the sound of hammering. A carpenter was refitting the window with new shutters. Regan stared at the window, frowning as if nagged by some elusive memory. She looked down in thought.“Chris was terrified while looking at her daughter spinning her head and so on…”
The head spinning around was an illusion. Blatty said that the supernatural doesn’t mean impossible. In the novel, Chris hit her head hard against the wall so she imagined it.
And I guess that you never agree with me 😉 but most atheists who I talked to about the movie say they weren’t afraid of it at all.
YAy, I’m so glad all went well! Congratulations, Cap! I just saw your baby’s pictures on the blog. 🙂 He’s adorable. 😀
“Indeed she really believed Regan was possessed, at least at the end.”
She never said she really believed her daughter was possessed either. I feel she wasn’t 100 percent sure.
At the end of the book, Blatty still entertains the thought that Regan may have suffered from mental illness and Karras from a mental breakdown.You are so articulate, granville. How can you say you’re not too much of a writer? 😉
“…Either way, as a decent human being and a family friend, Dennings probably would have probably bounded up the stairs in aid of Chris’s daughter. That, or something like it, is the most likely scenario for Dennings being in Regan’s room.”
That’s what happened. It was explained on the last chapter of the novel.
People on imdb should stop readind too much into it.
I wouldn’t stay in the house either, but Chris was based on Shirley and she’s not a fearful woman.
“The question of course remains whether or not her first glimmerings of belief would have impacted the length of time she continued to live in the house.”
I think that atheists wouldn’t be afraid to continue to live there.
“Just think about it… You know that your doughter has been posseded in that house”
Regan was probably very weak to travel and still needed intravenous feeding? Also, Chris was only starting to lean more to agnostic by the end, she still wasn’t a believer. So, in my opinion, she wouldn’t be afraid to continue to live there. She wasn’t certain if Regan had been possessed or if it was a case of psychosis, suggestion caused by the divorce and by the child reading a witchcraft book. She probably thought the exorcism was a cure through suggestion and that it had worked.
