Should Kitsy have told?

Use this forum to discuss the October Book of the Month "McDowell" by William H. Coles.
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Should Kitsy have told?

Post by LV2R »

Do you think Kitsy should have alerted the authorities about McDowell, even after he saved her life?
Do you think she just always mistrusted McDowell and only thought of one way about him?
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Post by KitabuKizuri »

She may have felt betrayed by her sense of judgement thus chose to report him at the end of the day. She initially thought well of him...
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Post by Dael Reader »

Yes, she did the right thing by alerting the authorities. McDowell was an escaped convicted felon. Failing to alert the authorities would essentially be aiding and abetting. And since she didn't know exactly what he was convicted for, she smartly alerted the authorities, rather than taking the risk of turning a blind eye to the presence of a potentially dangerous criminal. She had no way of knowing what he was truly capable of or what he might have done next.
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Post by LaurenHaupt »

No. He helped save her life. She should have talked it over with her friend before doing anything.
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Post by jenjayfromSA »

I don't believe she should have said anything. She had been around him for some time, she had seen the good he did and the way he helped them all. She should have had faith in her own judgement and the fact that he saved her life. Surely she believed people can change, repent and try to make amends? One wonders if she resented the close relationship that had developed between Pete and Winona. After all, Winona was her friend.
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Post by Marissa Michael »

No, she should not have told. People can change; Everyone deserves a second chance. If McDowell can never change to be better, he wouldn't bother to waste his time, energy and skill to save her. She almost died if McDowell didn't intervene. Kitsy owe him a life; Kitsy paid good with evil. What Kitsy did was legal in alerting the authorities about McDowell, but legal doesn't mean it is the right thing to do.
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Post by Dusamae »

She did the right thing. She had no idea at the time she told that he saved her life. She knew from the beginning that something wasn't right about him living in the trailer. Her suspicions were right.
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Post by Connie Otwani »

Though she didn't know at the time that McDowell had saved her life, she should have considered the fact that he had become their friend.
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Post by MrsCatInTheHat »

She should have let it be. He had redeemed himself. He wasn't going to do something like he had done to Jeremy again. And really, Jeremy was better off dead.
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Post by jenjayfromSA »

The power of the media. McDowell was branded as a murderer and that was enough for a comparatively uneducated woman like Kitsy. She probably didn't even know who he was accused of murdering.
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Post by lesler »

I thought it was crappy Kitsy did that, but I don't blame her. She runs by an ethical code, no matter what. I'm sure she'll feel guilty about it the rest of her life though.
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Post by MrsCatInTheHat »

lesler wrote: 14 Oct 2018, 10:02 I thought it was crappy Kitsy did that, but I don't blame her. She runs by an ethical code, no matter what. I'm sure she'll feel guilty about it the rest of her life though.
Technically, everyone runs by an ethical code. It's just that we all have a different idea of what is ethical and what is not.
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Post by Catherine Ouncho »

no way, I guess jealousy got the better of her, that Hiram chose Winona over her
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Post by jgraney8 »

Dael Reader wrote: 09 Oct 2018, 20:09 Yes, she did the right thing by alerting the authorities. McDowell was an escaped convicted felon. Failing to alert the authorities would essentially be aiding and abetting. And since she didn't know exactly what he was convicted for, she smartly alerted the authorities, rather than taking the risk of turning a blind eye to the presence of a potentially dangerous criminal. She had no way of knowing what he was truly capable of or what he might have done next.
I wanted to disagree with this opinion until I thought about it. She didn't know what he had done. Perhaps he was a serial killer. I thought the way he was killed was the most unsatisfactory part of the novel. It seemed like the author took the easy way out.
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Post by Bavithra M »

People will not be the same ,they will change.Kitsy could have save him instead of alerting the authorities.
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