MovieChat Forums > The Ruling Class (1972) Discussion > Ending Theory - 'I'm Jack' (SPOILERS)

Ending Theory - 'I'm Jack' (SPOILERS)

posted 15 years ago by patrick_bateman_90056
9 replies | jump to latest

I just watched The Ruling Class from beginning to end for the first time yesterday and loved it, but the final scene had me wondering something.

After Jack has stabbed Grace and the camera pulls back from the house, we hear Grace's inhuman scream - mirroring the one Jack had made ten minutes earlier - followed by a boy saying, "I'm Jack. I'm Jack. The captions suggested that the speaker was their son, the future 15th Earl, but I have to admit, I actually think it may have been Jack himself.

All throughout the film, his sanity goes from one extreme spectrum (God) to another (The Ripper) with no in-between balance. All the characters suggest that Jack had a somewhat normal childhood. Then the last scene/shot left me thinking that couldn't be the baby speaking. He was far too young to start speaking, let alone know his first name. Perhaps with the murder of Grace - the only person who truly loved him for who he was - the act had caused Jack to have one final meltdown and leave him stuck in the infantile state of mind where life was an actual life and not an extended grooming period for induction into the House of Lords.

We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty, they will know who we are.

[–] nephihaha 15 years ago

I've wondered about this too. Someone suggested that he'd actually murdered his son to me...

Grace (name meaningful no doubt) is the big surprise, the whore who becomes a dutiful and loving wife.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Zoomorph 14 years ago

I don't understand why he was seeing everyone as skeletons when he was giving his speech near the end. I know the girl told him to kill them, but I thought he was just murdering whores?

Anyways, I'll definitely need another watch, hard to understand some accents too.

~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

[–] nephihaha 14 years ago

"All throughout the film, his sanity goes from one extreme spectrum (God) to another (The Ripper) with no in-between balance. All the characters suggest that Jack had a somewhat normal childhood. Then the last scene/shot left me thinking that couldn't be the baby speaking. He was far too young to start speaking, let alone know his first name. Perhaps with the murder of Grace - the only person who truly loved him for who he was - the act had caused Jack to have one final meltdown and leave him stuck in the infantile state of mind where life was an actual life and not an extended grooming period for induction into the House of Lords.

We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty, they will know who we are."

Where were there any Germans in the film?

Oh, Dr Herder...

Maybe his kinky father did something to Jack.

[–] patrick_bateman_90056 14 years ago

The thing about the Germans is a quote from Inglourious Basterds, nephihaha.

I have a message for Germany...

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] lantzn 14 years ago

I just watched it and that's what I thought. The son of Jack was going to be a loon too.

[–] melora72 9 years ago

I think it was Jack screaming, not Grace, because she was dead. I think he totally snapped and reverted to early childhood, repeating "I'm Jack."

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

It would make more sense if it was his son. His final cry then signifying he's going to take after his father - the aristocracy shall roll on.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan