The Kill-Off (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Kill-Off is an American crime novel
by Jim Thompson
first published in 1957, and reprinted by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
in 1999. The novel is a bleak tale of murder in a small, dying resort town
being torn apart by gossip
, racism
, incest
(actual or alleged), alcoholism
and financial difficulties. It was adapted into a film
in 1990.
from a different character, all of whom are unreliable
, to an unidentified audience. The result is a sprawling network of possibilities and suspicions with no ultimately trustworthy account.
" (6)) has been suffering financially from gradual loss of its tourist trade
, and morally from gossip spread by Luane Devore about the seedy activities of the town's inhabitants. Before the murder even happens, numerous characters are viewed as potential suspects, notably the psychotic
Bobbie Ashton, whose future was ruined when Luane revealed him as the bastard
offspring of a mixed-race relation
. Also involved in the potential crime is the suspected hoard of money Luane keeps from her husband Ralph's earnings. When finally Luane is found dead, having fallen down a flight of stairs, the characters scramble to establish their alibi
s. Ultimately local businessman Pete Pavlov confesses to unintentionally having pushed Luane down the stairs during a confrontation, although he suspects that Luane did not die immediately but was killed by a third person.
in 1990 directed by Maggie Greenwald
.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
by Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (writer)
James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....
first published in 1957, and reprinted by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Black Lizard
Black Lizard was a publisher imprint during the 1980s. A division of the Creative Arts Book Company of Berkeley, California, Black Lizard specialized in presenting rediscovered forgotten classic crime fiction writers and novels from the decades between the 1930s and the 1960s. Creative Arts Book...
in 1999. The novel is a bleak tale of murder in a small, dying resort town
Resort town
A resort town, sometimes called a resort city or resort destination, is a town or area where tourism or vacationing is a primary component of the local culture and economy...
being torn apart by gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
(actual or alleged), alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and financial difficulties. It was adapted into a film
The Kill-Off
The Kill-Off is a neo-noir written and directed by Maggie Greenwald, based on a 1957 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. It was an independent film, executive produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and shot by Declan Quinn.-Plot:...
in 1990.
Plot introduction
The Kill-Off relates the events leading up to the inevitable murder of Luane Devore, a hypochondriac hated in the seaside town of Manduwoc for her malicious gossip. Each chapter provides a partial first person accountFirst-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
from a different character, all of whom are unreliable
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
, to an unidentified audience. The result is a sprawling network of possibilities and suspicions with no ultimately trustworthy account.
Plot summary
Manduwoc, a small seaside resort town (located "a few hours train-ride from New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
" (6)) has been suffering financially from gradual loss of its tourist trade
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, and morally from gossip spread by Luane Devore about the seedy activities of the town's inhabitants. Before the murder even happens, numerous characters are viewed as potential suspects, notably the psychotic
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
Bobbie Ashton, whose future was ruined when Luane revealed him as the bastard
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
offspring of a mixed-race relation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
. Also involved in the potential crime is the suspected hoard of money Luane keeps from her husband Ralph's earnings. When finally Luane is found dead, having fallen down a flight of stairs, the characters scramble to establish their alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
s. Ultimately local businessman Pete Pavlov confesses to unintentionally having pushed Luane down the stairs during a confrontation, although he suspects that Luane did not die immediately but was killed by a third person.
Characters in "The Kill-Off"
- Luane Devore A paranoidParanoiaParanoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
hypochondriac who keeps to her room while spreading malicious rumors (some of which may be true) about the locals.
- Ralph Devore Luane's younger, good-looking and hard-working husband, he hoards the money he makes working odd jobs, although Luane keeps control of it. He falls in love with Danny Lee, and struggles to find a way to get his money and to separate from Luane. He is rumored to be Luane's son as well as her husband.
- Dr. Jim Ashton The local doctor, he moved to Manduwoc to conceal his sexual and intellectual relationship with Hattie, a NegroNegroThe word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
woman who bore his son Bobbie.
- Bobbie Ashton Bright and outwardly good natured, Bobbie conceals (to all but his parents and girlfriend) a psychotic characterPsychosisPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
resulting in part from his parents' illegitimate relationship and his sexual desire for his mother.
- Hattie Dr. Ashton's mistress and housekeeper, she fell in love with Ashton from gratitude for his benevolence and his intellectual attention, but was cast off when her pregnancy (and refusal to have an abortionAbortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
) led to his professional disgrace. She lives in fear of Bobbie.
- Pete Pavlov Local contractor facing bankruptcyBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
because of Manduwoc's decline. Almost universally hated and distrusted, Pavlov is at bottom an honest man whose hateful attitude arose in response to having been swindledConfidence trickA confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
by Luane's father.
- Myra Pavlov Pete Pavlov's daughter and Bobbie Ashton's girlfriend, she lacks personality and will power. She lives in fear of her father and allows herself to be abused by Bobbie. She was forced into a drug addiction by Bobbie, although she does not mention this in her narrative.
- Danny Lee A reluctant prostitute turned singer, she is brought to Manduwoc by Rags McGuire. She falls in love with Ralph Devore.
- Rags McGuire A famous jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician fallen on hard times because of his unwillingness to adopt to popular musical trends.
- Kossmeyer Luane's lawyer, prone to anger.
- Henry Clay Williams Local prosecutorProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, ambitious but dull-witted. His position is threatened by local rumor that he has an incestIncestIncest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous relationship with his sister.
- Marmaduke "Goofy" Gannder Town drunkTown drunkThe town drunk is a stock character, almost always male, who is drunk more often than sober.The town drunk typically dwells in a small enough town that he is the only conspicuous alcoholic...
and madmanInsanityInsanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
, he prowls through the town looking for boozeAlcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The Kill-Off was made into a filmThe Kill-Off
The Kill-Off is a neo-noir written and directed by Maggie Greenwald, based on a 1957 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. It was an independent film, executive produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and shot by Declan Quinn.-Plot:...
in 1990 directed by Maggie Greenwald
Maggie Greenwald
Maggie Greenwald is an American film, television director and screenwriter.She is most recognized for writing and directing Songcatcher and The Ballad of Little Jo...
.
Sources
- Thompson, Jim. The Kill-Off. New York: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 1999.