Mother Night Chapter 19 Summary

Little Resi Noth…

  • Resi is in the music room petting her pup. She is bundled up because there's no heat in the house, and the dog is now bald and swollen from lack of food in wartime.
  • When she finds out that Campbell is the one who will perform the doggy execution, Resi pushes the little guy off her lap.
  • This ten-year-old girl also reveals three key things: 1) She's a nihilist who thinks we're all better off dead anyway because nothing matters. 2) She's in love with Campbell. 3) She believes she'll die shortly.
  • Campbell takes the dog outside. Three people watch him shoot it: Resi through a window in the music room, her mom through a widow on the second floor, and the armed soldier monitoring the Polish and Russian slave women.
  • The dog dies quickly, and then the soldier comes by to see what's up. He goes on to tell Campbell about all sorts of other bullet wounds he's seen.
  • The soldier then asks Campbell if he's going to bury the dog; if Campbell doesn't, the soldier is sure someone will eat it.
  • We're not sure if this is a warning or a Meh, somebody'll eat it, so no biggie kind of comment. We also know we don't want to know.