"As the truck twisted through the gentle hills the star went back and forth between Kenny's boots, staying alwyas in his sight. 'I'm going to the hospital,' Kenny said. But he was wrong. They had taken a different turn a long way back."
(p.201)
I can't take credit for noticing this because it only came to my attention in the group discussion today. The ending of the story is that Frank and Tub take a "different" turn from the road to the hospital. Why not a "wrong" turn? It seems logical that the turn would be considered wrong if it was the turn they missed towards their intended destination. However, the turn is just "different." From this, it kind of implies that the turn was intended by Tub and Frank but unsuspected by Kenny. Did Tub and Frank decide to let Kenny die? Another thing that I found startling that adds to this is when Tub leaves the directions at the tavern. Frank says that he pretty much knows where he's going. If Kenny's life meant something to them, wouldn't they want to be sure? They were only a couple miles down the road but don't want to waste a few minutes going back. It's not like they thought Kenny might die because of these few minutes since they already made it clear that they were taking rest breaks along the way. My final point to this is that they literally just left Kenny in the back of the truck to freeze to death or bleed out, whichever came first. They frequently stopped, had a meal, and even took Kenny's blankets. That doesn't sound like they're friends at all. It really makes me think that this "different" turn was something Tub and Frank both agreed on.
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