So I've seen this movie twice now, and while I think I understand most of the plot (reading the book helped), Im still confused as to if Arctor's flashback to his family life was real or not. Hank tells him that he doesn't have a family, but considering the web of lies among these characters, Im not sure who to believe. If he did have a family, what happened to them? Any ideas?
shareBarris killed and ate the family in an ergot based psychosis.
"You aren't supposed to..." That can mean anything. Perhaps he volunteered for undercover work but he didn't fit the mold perhaps? You can find similar things in military units. I am not saying that is a definite thing, just a common occurrence. It would be a better move to have a single person with no family to do dangerous covert work... say a police officer was exposed and his family was found... Held for ransom, extortion or killed, etc etc. Not a prerequisite, but it doesn't hurt to lack attachments. Just my opinion, man.
In the book he has a family, and since Linklater was pretty faithful to the book, you can make the conclusion that he had had a family, but experienced an epiphany through that cabinet-door-head-blow and realized he hated his mundane little domestic life... it was just too clean.
Make sense?
I just shot Marvin in the face!
this is discussed at length in the FAQs.
"I've frequently not been on boats." - Rosencrantz