Vaughan may have been the only person on the outside who understood Karl. In the diner, when Vaughan stated that he thought Karl was a deep thinker and asked him what he was thinking about, Karl's only thoughts were on his meal that he was eating and the cans of potted meat. But then at the end of the movie when Karl spoke with Vaughan on the his front porch Karl stated, "that boy Frank lives in his heart. That's an awfully big place to live". I think this showed Vaughan that his perception of Karl was accurate and because of Karl's disabilities that he could only focus on one subject at a time.
My other thought has to do with when Karl went to visit his own father. I think Karl had begun to develop the idea of what a "good" father was and began to find examples (Vaughan, Jerry Woolridge, Bill Cox being examples of good) and the bad (Doyle, his own father) and then evil (Jessie Dixon, Doyle, Charles Bushman).
One last thought I developed while watching it today while sick in bed: Karl feared that Frank, suffering abuse at the hands of Doyle might cause Frank to turn from innocence into an abusive man and even a murderer himself.
One might even speculate that Doyle's murder was premeditated since he spent all day thinking about it and preparing for it. There appeared to be no gray area for Karl when it came to people. The "pretty people" that he'd have to get used to seeing, the good, the bad, and the evil.
I love the final scene where he essentially tells Bushman that if he doesn't stop bothering him then Kar will kill him to. (JT Walsh is such a CREEPY MF'er! Best role ever. Should have gotten a nomination for his short role!)
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