Question

At the beginning, Gene Hackman's brother is wrapping up some sausage that had just been made and sends it to Lee Marvin's boss (the big boss). My impression was that Hackman's crew had not been paying their tribute to the big boss. The big boss had sent someone to demand their arranged percentage. Hackman's crew had killed the guy and thrown him in the processor with the rest of the sausage "ingredients". Sending the sausage/messenger was their way of saying that they would not pay. Then the big boss sends Lee Marvin. You know what happens after that.

So, in the end, Hackman's brother is killed holding a piece of sausage. I guess it is supposed to be some kind of "poetic justice". Or maybe it is symbolic. In the end, he was not turned into sausage. But, all he was left with was a sausage.

Hackman's brother was shot but kept charging at Marvin. He reached into his overalls and started stabbing him and when he finally died of his wounds he fell off of the catwalk. It was then revealled that instead of grabbing the knife he carried he had accidently grabbed one of the hotdogs/sausages that he was constantly eating and in his rage had failed to notice that it was the wrong item.


"Now we are carrying so much hate and jade that we're not much better than you"