"Don't you just take the past, and put it in a room in the basement, and lock the door and never go in there? That's what I do. "
"Don't you just take the past and put it in a room in a basement and lock the door and never go in there? That's what I do, And then you meet someone special and all you want to do is to toss them the key and say; open up, step inside, but you can't, because it's dark, There's demons and if anybody saw how ugly it is. I keep wanted to do that, fling the door open just let light in and clean everything out. "
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As I was watching this movie, all of a sudden I was reminded by the Picture of Dorian Gray. After Ripley's second murder, it struck me- he's digging his own grave. One could sense the desperation by his actions. He didn't care who he killed next, as long as it fixed the problem. This need to "fix things" through murder reminded me of the things that Dorian did to also get out of the situation. Of course this action was extremely irrational, because people cannot just disappear. I mean, they soon will be missed. And yet, this wasn't thought about by both characters in the moment of panic. Their impulse was to kill, and if that person was eliminated, then the problem would go away. I think for both of them, after the first murder, it was something they just felt they had to do. Murder was the solution.
And just like Dorian, I think Tom is going to end up killing himself after the last scene. There is no possible way he can consciously survive after all that he had done. Dorian couldn't take it because he visually saw what he had become... although both characters started out as very naive. I think Dorian remained naive until the end, even after all the murders. Tom on the other hand seemed to suppress his guilt and succeed in doing so. His personality, or character as one may say, would be harder to break because his soul wasn't so pure. This lack of purity stems from his dejection from reality. He doesn't seem to see things as their happening, but only jumps from one action to the other. He doesn't reflect about his actions at all, because he knows that would be the death of him. Dorian not only reflected on what he had become, but he saw it in front of his eyes, and therefore could not avoid it any longer. But if something is pushed down so hard into the unconscious, it is so easy to live with the growing guilt, until one day the unconscious breaks loose into your entire world. One cannot escape their unconscious forever...it will find a way to make itself known. But once Tom reflects on what he has done, then he will have to kill himself, because after that realization, one cannot physically carry on this life. Guilt does not let one live. Which is why it either leads to suicide or complete denial. Of course that is on the cynical side. Now, if one has murdered and gives into the guilt, and finds a way to make amends not only with the world but with oneself, then one can escape. To accept the guilt and the fault is freedom... something Dorian and Tom did not realize.
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