Re Mark's comment below:
"Parker would do whatever was necessary to accomplish his
goal as a matter
of course with no reflection. You know what his character
would do in a
situation. Unlike Hamilton, Westlake has no need to
accentuate how tough
and realistic his character is."
Helm is a basically decent man doing indecent work for the
greater good.
I believe Hamilton himself described him as "actually a
pretty nice guy
who kills people." So when he explains what he's doing it wnd
why, he's
not really explaining; he's justifying his apparently callous
attitude.
And I think he's justifying it to himself more than to
us.
Parker, on the other hand, is a vicious, selfish, amoral
piece of shit
(for all that he's a masterfully created fictional
character). He doesn't
have to justify his actions, because he doesn't care whether
or not they
are wrong.
There's also the fact that the Helms are first person, and
therefore we're
inside Helm's head every step of the way, while the Parkers
are in
rigorously objective third person, so we're not as constantly
privvy to
his thoughts. - Jim Doherty
--UNS_gsauns2_3059335768--
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