Shouting at the end? (spoilers)

goes 2 show u how weird his fam was

I came here hoping to get an explanation on that, seems I'm not the only one who feels they missed something. Maybe it's just because everyone else's stories are tied neatly up at the field with the marching band, but there is still these two poor people who've lost everything sitting in their house at night feeling miserable, and all they have left to do is look for their dog who's missing. I don't think the intent of the shot was to show he had bad parents - I think they were fine. I think it's just showing how for them, nothing worked out.

SPOILERS LIE AHEAD . . .


I actually think everybody is right on this thread.

When I first saw the film, I had to rewind this section a bit because I couldn't tell who the couple was drinking together in the dim light. Then, when I saw that the couple was Glenn's parents, I could tell that she was calling out for Bomber to come home, but in such a loud and persistent way that it seemed she was looking for him, hoping he would return. Her calling did not sound to me like the regular, expectant calling we reserve for our dogs when we are calling them home for supper and for the night.

Moreover, Bomber was an "inside" dog, the kind of dog that spent time with Glenn on his bed, in his truck, a frequent companion. He was not an "outside" dog, the sort that people leave in a yard or to roam free. So, if Bomber wasn't at home, there had to be a reason.

1. I thought immediately that Glenn's mother was calling out for Bomber because he hadn't returned home, and she knew he was still alive because he was not found with Glenn's body.

1. Animals have an innate wisdom about people and can be better judges of character than people.

2. After the carnage, Bomber realized that returning to his family home signalled danger, so his self-preservation instincts took over, and he made his way somewhere else. This, to me, is in alignment with the many stories of loyal dogs who go to surprising lengths to make it back to their homes following a separation. For Bomber, who the movie depicted as loyal and faithful throughout, to not return home, is a big statement to me that he knew he was better off somewhere else. Even he could sense the pain.

4. In a small town such as the setting of the movie, a dog like Bomber would likely be able to find his way back home. Even though he was let loose in the woods, those woods were nearby enough that four-year-old Tara made her way there relatively easily. So, if Bomber did not return, it was because he made the decision to not return.

I love dogs and have lived with them my entire life, so these are my opinions and beliefs. I hope they shed some light. By the way, I thought that the dog who played Bomber was such a beautiful, gentle animal. I kept thinking, wow, he was really well-trained. And I also despaired that Glenn was going to shoot him in the head, and I was so relieved that he let him go. I thought maybe Glenn did this because he didn't consider Bomber evil, and it seemed that Glenn's entire motive/goal was to eliminate only evil: Annie, because her character was "lost" - adultery, her hatred of another human (Glenn), her inherent selfishness, and MOST especially the part she played in Tara's death; and himself (suicide) because of the evil he necessarily brought upon himself by committing murder. This is what I believed was Glenn's rationale.