MovieChat Forums > The Prince of Tides (1991) Discussion > What happens to Luke?

What happens to Luke?

posted 20 years ago by lizardfuel55
15 replies | jump to latest

I know he shot himself or something, but why?

[–] da_neel 20 years ago

I understood that his death was in some way associated with the land he owned and wouldn't sell the government!

However i never understood wether he killed himself when they finally managed to get the lands away from him, or if they killed him to get the lands!

"Not only is there no god, but try getting a plumber on a weekend"

[–] MrJozaro 20 years ago

Luke gets shot by the soldiers when he goes back to the town for the last time. He was about to give up.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Simpsycho 20 years ago

Luke did not want to give up the property to the government (his mother had sold the land out from under him), so he blew a few things up. The government came after him, and the assumption is that they killed him (especially since Barbra Streisand mentions it near the end).

[–] drosey 19 years ago

The government shot him. It's in the book.

[–] renee916 19 years ago

We hardly see or hear of Luke. And you are right they only show the tiger in one short scene when Tom is showing Susan the family videos. I so want to read the book more now. And I will soon.

[–] meganwall2005 18 years ago

"Savannah dedicates her next book of poetry (titled Prince of Tides) to Tom, her "memory".

Actually, she dedicates "The Shrimper's Daughter" to Tom. "The Prince of Tides" dedication says "Man wonders, but God decides, when to kill the prince of tides". The prince of tides is Luke.

[–] adina_darko 20 years ago

The island that his father used to own was given to his mother's new husband when he married him. The movie goes into absolutly NO detail whatsoever about this, but in the book the man Lila Wingo marries is the wealthiest man in town, who was once married to Lila's arch nemesis and died. Well, anywho, Lila sells the land to him and Luke camps out on the island and becomes sort of a sniper and kills the people from the government that are there to make the island into something else, a nuclear testing facility i think? Luke set up camp on a local island where his father hunted turkeys and one day the Green Berets found him and shot him dead.

The movie is terrible, do yourself a favor and read the book.

You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake.

[–] thecaptaineast 20 years ago

I wouldn't go so far as to say the movie is terrible (it's excellent,actually) but the book is better.

[–] ash1157 20 years ago

It always bugged me that they left all the Luke parts out of this movie. IMHO, Luke was the true Prince of Tides, even though I suppose we're supposed to think it was Tom.

[–] Raven32166 20 years ago

I totally agree about Luke being the true prince of tides, however, if you remember, Savannah dedicates her next book of poetry (titled Prince of Tides) to Tom, her "memory".

Raven

[–] uptowngirl322 20 years ago

The whole point of the book is that Luke is the prince of tides! In the book Lowenstein is a fan of Savannah's, even before Savannah is her patient. At Luke's funeral, Savannah wrote a poem for Luke entitled "The Prince of Tides" because he died saving Colleton. (If you are from South Carolina, you can appreciate this. SC has been the nuclear dumping grounds of the country for quite some time.) The title of Savannah's second book of poetry is The Prince of Tides because of Luke. And when Tom visits Lowenstein for the first time, he sits in her waiting room reading through the pages of the book thinking of his lost brother.

Also, the whole point of the story is the love and bond siblings share. Tom and Savannah feel a special connection because they are twins, but they have a special bond with their brother. The book goes into great detail about how much Tom revered his brother higher than himself. Savannah at one point in their childhood kisses Luke on the cheek and declares that he is a prince. The reason that the story opens with both Savannah's and Tom's lives falling into a pathetic discord is they have lost something; there is a break within their special trio. The effect of Luke's death is so tremendous that Savannah attempts suicide and Tom's married life plummets. The movie is good for the most part, but it does not capture the essence of Conroy's prose nor does it fully encapsulate the message of his book. If you like the movie, read the book and you will be pleasantly surprised. (Nick Nolte was perfectly cast, in my opinion.)

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] gxhjpccrtq 20 years ago

I agree the casting in the movie was perfect except for Streisand...in the book Lowenstein was suppose to be this really beautiful woman. Mercedes Ruehl would have been a better Lowenstein for instance.

Also, the book was about the 3 children...NOT the love affair between Tom and Lowenstein. Gone are the moments about Snowflake and the tiger that saved everyone's lives...giving his own life to save them. Notice that it only went after the prisoners and NOT the children (in the book that is, the tiger wasn't hardly mentioned in the movie).

I read the book after seeing the movie and I thought they really ruined the movie.

[–] energy8432 19 years ago

Yeah, it must be really great to be Babs and get to make those casting decisions!