countthree
Well-Known Member
ezra killed the imp though, and that's his achilles tendon. he does not want to meddle with the police because of that.
plus, isaac is hitting him first. he couldve just hit him back in defense and then see what happens next. there were no witnesses around.
when isaac pulls out his belt, brave ezra becomes a little boy again, afraid of the father's authority, even though he is full with rage, pain and disbelief. it's the belt that turns the man into a mouse.
let me excavate this scene again (p.81)
"isaac quickly looked cautiously to the left, and then to the right, and sensing a clear coast he whacked the back of his right fist across ezra's face so violently that ezra, as solid as he was, dropped to the ground.
looking up at isaac he could see the polluted agent of trust sliding into barbaric mode, loosening his belt - for what reason, ezra could only guess - and ezra hastily stumbled to his feet and collected himself whilst wisely moving back towards the gate.
'there is nothing you can do, and there is no chance of rest for you now, for i am not alone in knowing what i told you today ... and although i stand alone in this garden, you are, in fact, surrounded.'
ezra fled the scene..."
i still think that ezra's behaviour (he fled) after giving that warning to isaac is difficult to understand. there is an old man loosening his belt (so what? is he pulling a gun, or what?), isaac knows he has no chance, that for him offense is the best defense. he is trapped. and all ezra can do, is run away.
why is it important for the story that ezra runs away? because dean isaac, who was doomed, is now, surprisingly the winner. he wins by default. thus his "voice" can now influence the rest of the story, tragedy, multiple deaths, evil, and all that.
the emotional backdrop of the novella, its whole worldview, is based on ezra's fall of man, his lapse: namely not stopping isaac when it was time to do so. he runs away and leaves everything else behind as a mess
I know, Lanterns. But Ezra didn't have the intention of killing that man in the first place. That was an accident. At most, excess in self-defense.