Kevin's Watch

This has bothered me every time I have read ROTE. When Linden calls Bill Coty and warns him about Roger Covenant he asks her if she thinks Roger is violent and should he bring a gun. Linden responds by telling him guns might be an overreaction.

After talking to Bill Coty she calls first Megan then Sheriff Lytton. In both conversations she is convinced that Roger Covenant is dangerous. Why then didn't she tell poor Bill Coty that she believed Roger was dangerous?

We all know what happen to Bill Coty.

Earthpower wrote:This has bothered me every time I have read ROTE. When Linden calls Bill Coty and warns him about Roger Covenant he asks her if she thinks Roger is violent and should he bring a gun. Linden responds by telling him guns might be an overreaction.

After talking to Bill Coty she calls first Megan then Sheriff Lytton. In both conversations she is convinced that Roger Covenant is dangerous. Why then didn't she tell poor Bill Coty that she believed Roger was dangerous?

We all know what happen to Bill Coty.

She believed Roger was dangerous, but not that dangerous.

Billy Coty's death will probably be paralleled by someone's death in
the Land later on in the Chrons.

Dunno if you'll see my post, but... this question was really not given the attention it deserved.

Earthpower wrote:This has bothered me every time I have read ROTE. When Linden calls Bill Coty and warns him about Roger Covenant he asks her if she thinks Roger is violent and should he bring a gun. Linden responds by telling him guns might be an overreaction.

I think it's SUPPOSED to bother people.

It bothered me A LOT, and it's especially supposed to bother Linden... and does.

After talking to Bill Coty she calls first Megan then Sheriff Lytton. In both conversations she is convinced that Roger Covenant is dangerous. Why then didn't she tell poor Bill Coty that she believed Roger was dangerous?

Yes... I think Linden was trying to be vigilant of herself... (Asking herself the question, "Am I being unreasonable and unfair towards this person [Roger] for the multitude of reasons I have to do so?")
...but probably over-compensating as she attempts to compensate for her biases.

...and maybe also trying to not accept responsibility for the knowledge that she has of this person & this situation.
(partly because much of it is difficult or impossible to explain/justify to others.)

Linna heartlestener: "...but probably over-compensating as she attempts to compensate for her biases."

^^^THIS. I believe that's the explanation.

My impression is that Linden thought Roger was dangerous because he would attempt a kidnapping. That's dangerous for Joan. It need not be that she thought he was violent as well. And even if she did, she wasn't sure enough about it to commit to Bill bringing guns into the hospital.

But I also agree about the biases. That's a good point as well. She isn't sure herself that she isn't jumping to conclusions and imagining things. There was no old man in an ochre robe ...

In [i]The Runes of the Earth[/i] was wrote:She had tried to believe that there would be no danger unless the old man in the ochre robe appeared to warn her.

Kidnapping she suspected from meeting Roger. Violence she suspected from suspecting Lord Foul.

I kept waiting for Bill Coty to show up in the Land somewhere. If I remember right he was running down the hill toward Roger when the gunfire erupted, I was always afraid he got close enough to be included in the summons.

Akasri wrote:I kept waiting for Bill Coty to show up in the Land somewhere. If I remember right he was running down the hill toward Roger when the gunfire erupted, I was always afraid he got close enough to be included in the summons.

Bill Coty was shot by Roger in Berenford Memorial Hospital as Roger was escaping with Joan. (See the last page of chapter 3 of the ROTE prologue.) Poor Bill never made it to the hollow in the woods behind Haven Farm.

Oh, duh... I was thinking of the Sheriff, my bad

I did wonder from time to time whether Sheriff Lytton would turn up in the Land and be utilised as a proxy by Lord Foul, but using such a character in that way would be too obvious.

...besides, should the movie eventually be made. Jackie Gleason is no longer available to play the role of Lytton.

Too bad, since the tale of the White Gold Belt Buckle still begs to be told...although it is not as compelling as this story that crosses the barrier between Saturday morning cartoons and the world of the Last Chronicles.