The Butcher Game

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, child abuse, and physical abuse.

“Philip watched the shift take place that night, saw the brittle threads of humanity in Jeremy’s eyes dim like a low-burning flame and then snuff out.”

Philip’s memories illustrate the pivotal moment when Jeremy killed for the first time and fully discovered his murderous desires. There is some irony in this sentence, however, given the later reveal that Philip is also a killer in his own right: He either also lacks the humanity he declares is missing within Jeremy, or he is deeply lacking in self-awareness.

“Now, seeing confirmation of Jeremy’s degeneration into a true psychopath, Philip wonders what comes next. It’s bad enough to have someone out there who holds intimate knowledge of his deepest indiscretions, but it’s truly disconcerting to have that person be as unpredictable as Jeremy, especially when he has very little to lose and a lot to destroy.”

Philip armchair diagnoses Jeremy as a psychopath based on his memory of Morgan Davies’s killing and Jeremy’s more recent spree of murders. This passage is an example of irony (Philip is also a murderer like Jeremy) and foreshadowing (Jeremy will soon arrive back in Philip’s life, as he predicts).

“Their presence signals a delicate message, showing that something can thrive and adapt even if it’s surrounded by death.”

Wren’s relationship to plants (such as the resurrection ferns and Jeremy’s abandoned houseplants) illustrates her relationship to the desire to live. She views herself as a survivor, like the plants, and even while surrounded by death in the autopsy suite, she can “thrive.”