Monday, March 7, 2016

Mystic River Question #3


In Mystic River, Jimmy was ratted out to the police by his accomplice, “Just Ray” Harris for a robbery they both participated in. Because of this, Jimmy had to serve two years in prison while Ray walked free. Jimmy desired revenge on Ray desperately because while he was in jail, his wife was dying of cancer and had a young daughter, Katie, who needed a parent. Ray tried to compensate for him putting Jimmy in jail by taking care of Jimmy’s family, but regardless, once Jimmy was released from jail he murdered Ray and threw his body into the Mystic River. A German proverb states “revenge converts a little right into a great wrong. This is perfectly applicable to Jimmy because he had a thirst for revenge on Ray that it led him to believe murdering him was the right thing to do.

His revenge ultimately had fatal consequences. The extent of wrong that resulted from the ‘little right’ Jimmy felt murdering was ‘Just’ Ray’s sons had to grow up without a father. His mute son, also named Ray, and his friend ended up accidentally murdering Jimmy’s daughter, Katie. The implication of Jimmy’s actions was his daughter’s murder because if ‘Just’ Ray had been alive and had been a father figure to his children, mute Ray would’ve never had been playing with his father’s gun and Katie would still be alive. Overall, the extent of wrong was massive of Jimmy’s actions in murdering ‘Just’ Ray because it resulted in the murder of Jimmy’s daughter.

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