MovieChat Forums > Sling Blade (1997) Discussion > Did Doyle want to Die? (Spoilers)

Did Doyle want to Die? (Spoilers)

posted 16 years ago by mtbaker-1
41 replies | jump to latest

Throughout the movie we witness Doyle being a prick at the least provocation but in his final scene he seems almost serene when Karl walks in carrying a lawnmower blade and asking about how to call the police. Considering that Doyle was already suspicious of Karl (recall the hammer incident from the night before), do you think Doyle secretly had a death wish? After all, his life was rather crummy: Forty-something man in godawful band raising another man's kid and forced to hang with those he despises: sounds like a recipe for suicidal ideation to me. And the equanimity with which he accepted his own death further solidifies this impression in my own mind.

So what does everyone else think?

[–] orangewarm 14 years ago

i thought about this too. but his life wasnt crap - he's lucky anyone would take his sorry ***. he made his own life a misery - his dad was probably an ******* but he never found a way to live with it - classic narcisist.

[–] lindasmessage 14 years ago

SPOILER ALERT

your take was very interesting. you may be right. i just thought his lackadaisical attitude was a flaw in the script. doyle has violence and vitriol for everyone on a moment's notice but is nearly catatonic when facing death.

thanks for the spoiler alert. unfortunately i read one comment that referred to this scene BEFORE i had seen the end of the movie. i was hoping for a happy ending.

[–] im-dck 13 years ago

i just finished this movie and this scene had me 50/50. i came here wondering if anyone else thought that also, because that scene stuck out to me. i think the director intended it to be a moment where we decide what to think all of a sudden on purpose. so it could go either way, im personally think doyel was even 50/50 at that point, just being drunk and careless.

[–] rkelleher 11 years ago

Doyle did not take Karl seriously. He underestimated Karl's intelligence.

[–] fiatlux-1 13 years ago

I wondered about the Doyle death scene too. The conversation that they have puzzled me even more. Because he TOLD him he was going to kill him!
Watching it again, I truly think he was so drunk combined with him seeing Karl with a hammer a few nights ago made him unafraid. The fact that Doyle was scared sh!tless when Karl came in the bedroom with the hammer ONLY to find that it was a false alarm, made him even less afraid this time.

Doyle does realize he's in deep trouble at the last second; we hear him say "Karl?!" in a suddenly scared & stunned voice. He's realized too late that Karl was serious.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

[–] A_Fistful_of_Pennies 12 years ago

He was drunk and probably didn't see Karl as a threat right away. When Karl actually goes to kill him Doyle says "Karl?" in a surprised manner. Doyle didn't expect him to do it.

[–] kbarada 12 years ago

I got the feeling that he seemed like he was tired of living his miserable life and really didn't care which way it went.

[–] jakebustern 12 years ago

Great thread with plenty of thought provoking responses.
Fist, I think This is one of my favorite flicks & IMO, you have simplified this scene as well as anyone.
Drunk or not, I just don't think Doyle was expecting the end from someone like Carl.
Be nice or beware.
Mmmm-Hmmmm

Semper Fidelis

[–] sandifay62 12 years ago

The conversation between Doyle and Karl was simply an unfortunate misunderstanding between an arrogant drunk and an angry man with mental problems.

Doyle didn't want to die. He saw Karl as making a threat that he thought would go nowhere. He didn't know that Karl was a killer. He asked Karl if he killed somebody with an axe when he first met him and Karl said he never used an axe. Doyle then figured Karl was institutionalized because of his mental condition rather than something he did. The boy, the mom, and Doyle never asked any further questions.

So when Karl was asking how to call the police, Doyle's answers and advice were sarcastic. He was letting Karl know he wasn't taking him seriously and scared of his threats. Doyle sarcastically called Karl's bluff and Karl delivered. Being sarcastic with a mentally ill person that's saying they're going to kill you is a horrible survival strategy.

It doesn't even matter if we decided that Doyle didn't deserve to die because he was all talk. Karl believed Doyle's threats were real and he wanted to make sure the boy's suffering was over.

[–] Sook-Yongsheng 11 years ago

The boy, the mom, and Doyle never asked any further questions.

Well, Karl had told Linda. But she apparently never related the story to Doyle.

Being sarcastic with a mentally ill person that's saying they're going to kill you is a horrible survival strategy.

Well, I think it was obvious from the beginning that Doyle wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed -- no pun intended.

His boozing had also impaired his judgment.

[–] doktor_sarcasm 12 years ago

I think Doyle was committing passive suicide. You could tell there was a lot of self loathing in his rants. I think he had a definite death wish and I just get the impression from his character that he wanted to die, but wasn't going to kill himself. That's just my opinion though.

[–] Sook-Yongsheng 11 years ago

do you think Doyle secretly had a death wish?

It certainly came across that way. Even though Doyle was drunk, he seemed to take it pretty calmly when Karl told him he was going to kill him.

Doyle even instructed Karl how to call 911 correctly.

[–] neutralneutrals 9 years ago

It certainly came across that way. Even though Doyle was drunk, he seemed to take it pretty calmly when Karl told him he was going to kill him.

Doyle even instructed Karl how to call 911 correctly.

I think that Doyle definitely had a subconscious death wish and it only came out once he fell into that drunken stupor once the rage had boiled over. His responses to Karl were probably a touch of sarcasm and humor, he definitely didn't believe that a 'retard' could kill him. I am not sure why he instructed Karl how to call 911, but possibly it's because he just wanted him to leave.

[–] coolbluegreen 11 years ago

That is such a fantastic question. That is the kind of question that lights up a teacher's face -- it's so good. This teacher loves it. I will have to say -- yes. Yes. I think Doyle had a whole lot of suicidal ideation going on. He was not self-aware. I don't think he knew it -- but he did.

[–] fazhoul 11 years ago

Saying "Spoilers" doesn't really work when you put a spoiler in the title of the thread.