Grace was no expert in exclusive automobiles
Yet, she recognized with no difficulty the sound of the vehicle that was rounding the corner from Canyon Road at that very moment
Alas, in Grace's memory the legendary purr of
the Cadillac series C was inextricably linked with another rather less sophisticated sound — that of gunfire directed against her person
Don't you need to justify your actions before you shoot us
That's new
That could be interpreted as weakness, Daddy...
l'm disappointed in you!
l'm not gonna shoot anybody
You shot at me before
Yes.
l'm sorry, l regret that - You ran away
But shooting at you certainly didn't help matters
Of course not
You're, far, far too stubborn
lf you don't want to kill me then why did you come?
Our last conversation the one in which you told me
what it was you didn't like about me never really concluded as you ran away
l should be allowed to tell you what l don't like about you
That l believe would be a rule of polite conversation, you know
That's why you showed up?
And you call me stubborn
You're sure you're not here to force me to go back and become like you?
lf I thought there was a chance of forcing you but of course that will never happen
You are more more than welcome to return home and become my daughter again anytime and
l would even begin to share my power and responsibility with you if you did
Not that you care.
So what is it?
What is it, the thing... the thing that you don't like about me?
lt was a word you used that provoked me
You called me arrogant
To plunder as it were a God given right
l'd call that arrogant, daddy
But that is exactly what l don't like about you
lt is you that is arrogant!
That's what you came here say?
l'm not the one passing judgment, Daddy, you are.
No, you do not pass judgment because you sympathize with them —
A deprived childhood, and a homicide really isn't necessarily a homicide, right?
The only thing you can blame is circumstances
Rapists and murderers may be the victims according to you,
but
l call them dogs
and if they're lapping up their own vomit
the only way to stop them is with the lash
But dogs only obey their own nature
So why shouldn't we forgive them?
Dogs can be taught many useful things
but not, NOT if we forgive them every time
they obey their own nature
So, l'm arrogant
l'm arrogant because l forgive people?
My God —
Can't you see how condescending you are when you say that?
You have this preconceived notion that nobody, listen — that nobody can't possibly attain the same high
ethical standards as you so you exonerate them
l can not think of anything more arrogant than that
You, my child... my dear child you forgive others with excuses that you would never in the world permit for yourself
Why shouldn't l be merciful?
Why?
No, no, no You should, you should be merciful when there is time to be merciful
But you must maintain your own standard
You owe them that
You owe them that
The penalty you deserve for your transgressions, they deserve for their transgressions
they are human beings
- No, no, no
Does every human being need to be accountable for their actions?
Of course they do
But you don't even give them that chance
And that is extremely arrogant
I love you, I love you
I love you to death
But you are the most arrogant person I have ever met
And you call me arrogant!
l have no more to say
You are arrogant, l'm arrogant
You've said it, now you can leave
And without my daughter, I suppose?
Uhm...
I said without my daughter?
Hmm, yes!
Well
Yes
Well, you decide, you decide
Grace, they say you are having some trouble here
No
No more trouble than back home
I'll give you a little time to think about this
Perhaps you will change your mind
I won't
Listen, my love... power is not so bad...
I am sure that you can find a way to make use of it in your own fashion...
Take a walk and think about it
The people who live here are doing their best under very hard circumstances
If you say so, Grace.
But is their best really good enough?
Do they love you?
Grace had already thought for a long time
She had known that if she were not shot when the gangsters arrived she would be faced with her father's suggestion that she return to become a conspirator with him and his gang of thugs and felons and she did not need any walk to reconsider her response to that
Even though the difference between the people she knew back home and the people she'd met in Dogville had proven somewhat slighter than she'd expected
Grace looked at the gooseberry bushes so fragile in the smooth darkness
It was good to know that if you did not treat them ill they would be there come spring as always
and come summer they'd again
be bursting with the quite incomprehensible quantity of berries that were so good in pies specially with cinnamon Grace looked around at the frightened faces behind the windowpanes that were following her every step and felt ashamed of being part of inflicting that fear
How could she ever hate them for what was at bottom merely their weakness?
She would probably have done things like those that had befallen her if she'd lived in one of these houses to measure them by her own yardstick as her father put it.
Would she not, in all honesty have done the same as Chuck and Vera and Ben and Mrs. Henson and Tom and all these people in their houses?
Grace paused
And while she did, the clouds scattered
and let the moonlight through
and Dogville underwent another of those
little changes of light
lt was if the light, previously
so merciful and faint
finally refused to cover up
for the town any longer
Suddenly you could
no longer imagine
a berry that would appear one day
on a gooseberry bush
but only see the thorn
that was there right now
The light now penetrated every
unevenness and flaw in the buildings...
and
in... the people!
And all of a sudden she knew
the answer to her question all to well
lf she had acted like them
she could not have defended
a single one of her actions
and could not have condemned
them harshly enough
lt was as if her sorrow and pain
finally assumed their rightful place
No
What they had done
was not good enough
And if one had the power
to put it to rights, it was one's duty to do so for the sake of the other towns
For the sake of humanity
And not least for the sake of the human being that was Grace herself
If I went back and became your daughter again when would I be given the power you're talking about?
Now?
At once
Why not?
So that would mean that I’d also take on the immediate responsibilities at once I'd be a part in the problem solving...
Like the problem...
of Dogville
We can start by shooting a dog and nailing it to a wall
Over there beneath that lamp, for example
Well, it might help it sometimes does
It would only make the town more frightened, but hardly make it a better place
And it could happen again
Somebody happening by revealing...
...their frailty
That's what I wanna use the power for if you don't mind
I wanna make this world a little better
Yeah
That damn kid won't shut up
Says he wants to talk to you, Miss
Can we just shoot him now?
No, no, no let me talk to him
What?
What is it?
A man can't really be blamed for being scared now, can he?
No, that's true
No, l'm scared, Grace
I used you, and l'm sorry
I am stupid, I am
Maybe even arrogant sometimes
You are, Tom
Although using people is not very charming
l think you have to agree that this specific illustration has surpassed all expectations
It says so much about being human
It's been painful
But l think you also have to agree it has been edifying
Wouldn't you say?
Not now, Tom
Not now
lf there is any town this world would be
better without, this is it
Yes?
Shoot them
and burn down the town
What?
Something else, honey?
There is a family with kids...
Do the kids first
and make the mother watch
Tell her you will stop
if she can hold back her tears
l owe her that
l'm afraid she cries
a little too easily
We've better get you out of here
l'm afraid, you've learned
far too much already
Are you cold, Sweetie
Do you need a wrap?
l'm fine
You want the curtains opened?
You don't need them anymore
What do you think?
l think we should open them
l think it's appropriate
No!
No, no
Oh, God, no!
No, no, no!
- Mom, dad!
- No!
Dad!
No!
Mom!
Mom!
Mom help! Help!
Mom!
Bingo Grace!
Bingo!
l have to tell you, your illustration beat the hell out of mine.
It's frightening, yes but so clear
Do you think that l can allow myself to use it as a inspiration in my writing
Goodbye, Tom
Some things you have to do yourself
Really?
That one you're gonna have to explain to me on the way home
Suddenly there was a noise —
Not so persuasive and powerful as it had been on one rainy night in spring but loud enough to work its way through the final sighs of the timber that was rapidly burning out
It came again
Everyone heard it
Grace was the first to recognize it
That's Moses
That's Moses, she said and jumped out of the car
She quickly covered the distance
to the dog pen over what now the buildings were gone could scarcely be called a street and certainly not Elm Street as there wasn't a tree left on Dogville's little mountain ledge let alone an elm
It was Moses
His survival was astonishing; a miracle
No, no.
No, just let him be.
They will have spotted the flames in Georgetown by now —
Some one will come and find him
He's just angry because I once took his bone
Whether Grace left Dogville or on the contrary Dogville had left her and The World in general is a question of a more artful nature that few would benefit from by asking and even fewer by providing an answer
And nor indeed will it be answered here!
