APT Pupil
Based on the Novella
APT Pupilby
Stephen King
In 1984,Todd Bowden, (Brad Renfro), was coming home from school. He stopped by his neighbor’s house, Arthur Denker, (Ian McKellen), to bring him his newspaper. When he approached the door, he noticed a sign that read “No Solicitors, No Peddlers, No Salesman”, but rang the doorbell anyway. When the door is opened, Mr. Denker asks what he wants. Todd is struck for words, but when he begins to close the door, he states “Bergen-Belson, January of ’43 to June ’43, Auschwitz, June ’43 to June ’44. Then you went to Patin. After that, you disappeared, but were spotted in West Berlin in 1965. He proceeds to tell the boy to leave before he calls the police. Todd insists he calls, he’s sure they would love to meet him.
Todd insures him that all he wants to do is talk and calls him by his real name, Mr. Dussander. Mr. Dussander lets him in. He had observed the photographs from 40 years prior, but couldn’t be sure. He explains to him that he has 14 compares. He did not tell his parents, but if anything were to happen to him, someone will find it. Mr. Dussander gets upset and explains it is a violation. Todd states, “kind of like those experiments with the decompression chamber. Now that’s a violation.”
Society today, I believe, would not react as they should. Being a military member, there are rules and orders that must be followed. These rules and orders have not changed significantly for the United States, but for other countries, they are not, nor have they been the same. When this took place, the Germans believed that if one refused to follow orders, their family would not receive protection as they should. It was up to the soldier to make the choice.
Mr. Dussander was invited over to the Bowden’s home for dinner. He was asked what he did during the war and informed them that he worked at the military hospital washing linens and nurses uniforms because his eyesight prevented him from going into...