Question about ending - SPOILER

[lisad]

Hi,

I really enjoyed the book but came away with questions at the end.

We are led to believe that Angeline masterminded the crimes etc, but I struggled to understand her motives, plus she couldn't have guaranteed that Oaksey would drive by the house in the correct way to make it look like he had killed Lexie...

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks,

Lisa

[valmommyt]

I just finished it last night, and I agree with you. Not a bad read, but I'm left wondering just how much Angeline orchestrated, and how she was able to time things so perfectly.  I've only read this one and The Devil of Nanking, is the freak storyline in all her books?

[harmfulsweetz]

I read Pig Island whilst on holiday in Dominican, and yes, I must say I did a complete double take when I read the ending. At first I thought 'have I missed something?' because Oakesy (a character I would love to read more of) got caught for it, but yet he didn't do it. Angeline was an obvious suspect from the start, but the way Mo portrayed her character was so marvellous that you never would have guessed what was to come, despite the hints.


I liked the ending, it made me feel somewhat angry and hate Angeline. But  I think it was meant to. It was meant to make you feel something and trick you, it shocked me. Brilliant.

[mungosmum]

Things begin to get clearer once you realize that The girl named for the angels was quite the opposite with her long forked tail.  There are all lot of allusions to this, not least the title "Pig Island", The bible tells the story of Jesus casting out the demons and into a herd of swine......
However I agree there are some small things which I don't understand, ie why did Oaksy keep proclaiming his love for his wife, when he obviously didn't love her?

[kate27]

hi
I've just finished reading and I agree with all of you, the end of  Pig Island leaves the reader with a kind of anxiety and question of who really did it, but after a while you have got no doubts it was the girl(angel with tail). Even at the end it's very mysterious, the whole story tells you that there is something about this girl( why does she want to be famous and show to everyone something disgusting )?

[koenvools]

This book has left me sleepless at night, because of the end. I had a lot of questions about a few things. I don't know, maybe it was because i finished it at 3 o'clock in the morning and i was tired, but i didnt understand a few things.
Joe saw a couple of times -before his wife got attacked- a strange car, and some witnesses said they saw Mallachi, there was even a videotape at a mall.
Could it be that : - Angeline and her father set the whole thing up together? Her father always had said he would commit suicide, and that Joe surely would remember it. So maybe that was the plan: his dead was planned by himself and his daughter, and Angeline killed the people on the island, and the wife of Joe, with the purpose of getting even with Joe later on.
I dont know, its just a thought. Or am I making a big misread here?
Nevertheless, the moment i read the last pages, i had goosebumps all over my body, and thats what I like about Mo's books.
Hey, maybe Angeline is pregnant now from Joe, or would that be too sick?

[bill]

The ending is confusing until you realize that, with her last words to Joe, Angeline reveals that she has been possessed by her father's spirit the whole time Joe has known her.  That knowledge makes the events of the whole book fall into place.  She says, "You don't believe in possession and you don't believe in evil."  Joe then sees the spirit of Dove leave his daughter's body and hover over the limousine. 

Why else would she even mention possession?  It wasn't otherwise relevant to him calling her evil. 

The rituals in the barn weren't exorcism rituals; Dove was working out a ritual to transfer his spirit into his daughter's body.  Only Malachi had the motivation to frame Joe so elaborately.  He also had the piece of scalp he'd taken off Joe's head to plant in the church. He had the knowledge of the explosives used to blow up the PHM people on the island.  Even the sex with Joe was part of his revenge.  Joe has to live the rest of his life knowing he'd been intimate with the evil, old man. 

Malachi made good on his promises, including to take away Joe's peace of mind, and that his death would be spectacular and memorable.  In the end, it's Joe's skepticism and refusal to believe in the supernatural that makes him vulnerable to Malachi's plan. 

[Angeline]

First time I read a book with a character bearing my name, and she is a freaky one
The way I see things, no, I don't hate the girl : all she ever wanted is love, and only her mother ever did give her love. Remember how she says "my mother loved me, and she was right to do so".

But all she ever got was mistreatment, from her father, these dreadful exorcisms. From the people on the island : she wanted so much them to love her, after her mom died, you know, while she was hiding in this tree, she was hoping so much Susan Garrick would open her arms to her, she would be invited to a warm home and made welcome to stay in the community. Instead of which, Susan and other people just screamed at the sight of her and called her a devil, an abomination, tried to capture her in a trap, etc...

Then Oakes and Lexie are weird, too : Lexie tries to use her to get to her "beloved" boss, she treats Angeline awful, humiliates and hurts her and calls her disgusting. Oakes also used Angeline to get rich out of making a book and to have kinky sex with.

I guess the way she was brought up and mistreated and abused, finally something snapped in her and she got her revenge. After all, as she puts it, it isn't her fault she was born this way, she was a lovable human creature to start with,  no matter her deformity, which she couldn't help.

She might have been possessed by her evil faher's spirit, too.