RR Edgar Street Killing

Often characters in books make decisions I don’t agree with. This is only natural because, not everyone thinks the same way. At the end of part one Ed from I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak makes a controversial decision. He questions what he should do and puts lots of thought into his decision. He has to decide if he is going to kill someone that has committed far too many wrongs. Ed decides to kill the character with a gun he got from the messenger. He kills a father of a family that lives on Edgar Street. The father abuses his wife after he comes home from the bar drunk almost every night. Ed is very nervous about killing him and almost changed his mind. I disagree with this decision and think he should have found a different solution. There may have been a solution that didn’t have to result in death.

If I was Ed I would have thought about other options than killing the man. Murder was not the only way to stop the man from abusing his wife. Ed could have tried to help the family first. He could have taken the mother and daughter out of the house and help them to become independent. Then the father might realize he loves his family and needs to become sober. He also could have tried to help the father get sober first. Ed could even try talking to the man and see if he could get him to at least try. Ed had many peaceful options but choose to take a more violent approach. The violent approach is not only wrong in my opinion but it could get Ed in trouble with the law. He could end up in jail for a long time. I think he should have found a way around killing the man. Violence was not the only answer to the family on Edgar Street’s problem.

I think Ed made the decision for a specific reason. He decided to kill the man because he felt an obligation to. Ed found the gun in his mailbox and knew what it meant. “I touch something cold and heavy. My finger touches the trigger. I shudder”(Zusak 80). Ed was given the gun by the messenger and he knew what the messenger wants him to do. He has success with Milla and Sophie so he feels as if he were ready to tackle Edgar Street. I think Ed is not ready to handle Edgar Street and makes the decision to early.

Ed might have made a mistake murdering this man. It is hard to decide because, the man has done so many horrible things. He abused his wife and is never a real father to his daughter. He had figured out how to solve Edgar Street but in a violent way. If I was Ed, I would have handled the situation differently. I would have tried to find a more peaceful way to finish solving the card. Ed did what he thought he had to do in order to complete the card from the messenger.