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Study Guide
Home Alone Appearances
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Appearances
BUZZ: Check it out. Old man Marley.
ROD: Who's he?
BUZZ: You ever heard of the South Bend shovel slayer?
ROD: No.
BUZZ: That's him. Back in '58, he murdered his whole family and half the people on his block…with a snow shovel. Been hiding out in this neighborhood ever since.
This is a total lie—just a dumb rumor based on Marley's somewhat austere appearance. In reality, as Kevin later learns, Marley's family is very much alive.
BUZZ: He [Marley] walks up and down the street every night, salting the sidewalks.
ROD: Maybe he's just trying to be nice.
BUZZ: No way. See that garbage can full of salt? That's where he keeps his victims. The salt turns the bodies…into mummies.
ROD: Whoa.
KEVIN: Mummies?
Of course, Marley is just trying to be nice. Rod is having the more natural, and humane reaction (not to mention the correct reaction), whereas Buzz's beliefs are wildly grotesque fantasies. Buzz poisons Kevin's mind—it takes a while for Kevin to realize that Marley's actually one of the good guys.
MARV: Somebody beat us to the job; they're in there. Two of them. There was arguing. One blew the other one away.
HARRY: Who?
MARV: I don't know. I thought I recognized one of their voices. And I know I heard that name 'Snakes' before.
HARRY: Snakes? Snakes. Snakes. I don't know no Snakes.
Marv can't tell the difference between a voice on TV and a real life voice. Are they so hard to tell apart? His own idiocy allows Kevin to manipulate him, playing the Angels with Filthy Souls video and convincing Marv that one gangster just murdered another in Kevin's house.
HARRY: We'll get through the back. Maybe the kid will let us in, you never know.
MARV: Yeah, he's a kid. Kids are stupid.
The irony here is pretty obvious: Harry and Marv are totally underestimating Kevin based on his appearance. He's actually a lot smarter than they are.
MARLEY: You live down the street from me, right? You know, anytime you see me you can say hello; you don't have to be afraid. A lot of stuff has been said about me, none of it's true.
Marley's aware of the ridiculous rumors the kids have been concocting about him. After a few seconds of talking with him, Kevin realizes how kindly Marley actually is.