I think folks are forgetting that Karl was an immature kid when he was put in the "nervous hospital", and he never really got to mature fully. He was a grown kid in some respects, and kids see things on a different scale. He felt that Doyle would target and abuse Frank forever - as a kid would. He felt this was the only answer, and he was willing to make the sacrifice to fix it. The bookmark he made said, "You will be happy". He meant to make sure of it.
shareAn ass kicking would not have stopped what Karl was trying to stop. From his point of view, the only way he could save Frank from a lifetime of abuse and possibly turning out like Doyle because of his influence was to eliminate Doyle altogether. And he admitted to Frank he couldn't kick his ass anyway.
On the other hand, I don't know that killing Doyle was necessarily the best answer. Doyle was a grade A *beep* no question about it. Whether he deserved to die I guess is iffy, but he certainly had no business being a stepfather, or probably no business being free.
And from the point of view of Frank and his mom, I'm certainly not sure killing Doyle guaranteed their safety there, because of some of the root problems, one being Frank's mother. She seemed like a very nice person and a for the most part a good mother to Frank, but one bad flaw was putting her own needs before Frank by choosing to be with someone she knew was a bad influence on him at best, and at worst a real danger to his life and health well as her own. That was irresponsible on her part. And I don't think its altogether unlikely that even with Doyle out of the picture, she may very well have have ended up with someone just as bad or worse. She just struck me as the type of person who was addicted to bad decisions when it comes to men. Women like her need to realize loneliness is not an excuse, you are better off with no man at all than someone like Doyle. And she was putting her son in danger.
And Karl asked Vaughn to look out for them as well, and although Vaughn was a nice and well meaning guy he clearly didn't have the backbone to stand up to Doyle.
And then there is law enforcement too, although nothing was ever specified who knows how much they probably overlooked with Doyle as well?
So basically from Karl's point of view, he had no choice but to eliminate the cancer because no one else would do anything about it.
It was really an unfortunate situation altogether, because I honestly think the short time he was out of the hospital, Karl did pretty well for himself, had friends and a steady job. I think he was a great guy who could have done a lot of good, Its ashame he had to waste his life just to deal with Doyle in the only way he knew how, all because others who had the power to deal with Doyle in better and more productive ways wouldn't do it. Namely Frank's mom, Vaughn, and the police.
I think one of the morals in Slingblade is, when wrongs go unpunished and people like Doyle are allowed to do whatever they want, good people not only die but throw away their lives exacting vigilante justice. When a snake is not removed, it will bite someone.
You really didn't pay much attention.
Doyle would have ended up killing either Frank or his mother or both.
Karl knew this.
Karl sacrificed himself to save them from it.
If you think that an ass kicking would change a person like Doyle you are naive.
"Nobody wants to admit they ate nine cans of ravioli."
Do you honestly believe that a man like that would 'see the light' if only someone beat him up?
No. The more he feels threatened the meaner he'd get, and the more he'd take it out on the helpless people around him. He would definitely have become more abusive and would probably have killed someone in time.
Moreover, by killing him, Karl preserves Frank's innocence, since if he hadn't done it Frank may have done it himself.
Maybe he didn't deserve killing, but I enjoyed it.
shareExactly. Karl killed Doyle, both to spare Frank and Linda from further abuse and worse, and to preserve Frank's innocence (So Frank wouldn't perhaps kill Doyle himself and be haunted by it, or maybe even end up like Doyle himself). Kicking Doyle's ass wouldn't stop him from continuing to abuse them. Killing them was the only guarantee to stop him. That's why he asked Frank and Linda to stay with Vaughn (John Ritter) that night. To shield them from this. Frank had never killed anyone before. Karl had. So Frank wouldn't ruin his life by killing Doyle.
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