I just watched this for the first time on HBO recently, so I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but it was pretty obvious the Hitcher had a death wish and wanted to be killed... So why didn't he just commit suicide? Also, when he was taken into the police station and Jim walks in and spits in his face, why did the Hitcher reach out to grab his hand?
shareHe isn't suicidal in the traditional sense. It's all a game to him and he doesn't care if he "loses", as long as he's caused a sufficient amount of pain and suffering up until that moment.
sharewanted to be killed
commit suicide
Can't self-terminate.
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Happy birthday to the ground!!!
cause that would have been a lot less exciting
shareIt’s not that far-fetched. How many times in real life have we seen some psycho go on a killing spree before blowing his own brains out? The Hitcher just never got to the part where he offed himself.
shareIt's not that he wants to die for its own sake. John Ryder has contempt for the civilized person. He thinks they're all "useless wastes" who deserve to die because they themselves won't fight for it: they all either plead and cry, or ask him what he wants and try to cooperate, or run away, or call the police (whose goal is to contain him or rehabilitate him, not destroy him), or even if they do fight back they never go all the way and finish the job.
What John is looking for is someone he can respect under his twisted morality: someone willing to do whatever it takes to stop him.
Some people who are feeling suicidal decide to take others with them. It happens a lot with mass shooters.
share