Although Kinderman is Jewish and Dyer is a Jesuit, the differences between the religions might as well be minutiae they are more interested in the bigger picture. Often going off on monologues to his men at the precinct about philosophical conundrums, Kinderman is also capable of being a good listener when someone deigns to engage him.įather Dyer is more than willing to shoot the breeze with his cop friend. The reason for this is Kinderman’s pontificating about the origin of the universe and man. While “Legion” is not as layered as “The Exorcist” – mainly because Blatty entertains fewer points of view and engages with fewer characters’ minds – it remains a gripping novel despite not working on a pure mystery level.
I suspect the idea was more surprising for a 1983 reader, although perhaps I’m seeing the past as a more innocent time only because I was kid back then. An inverted version of this religious theory also plays into the Marvel comic book, and now TV series, “Legion.” Although the phrase dates back to the Bible, I’m not sure if it was a mainstream idea in pop culture when Blatty’s novel came out. I had first heard of the idea of the Devil being “Legion, for we are many” (a way of saying the Devil has many proxies, or perhaps even resides in all humans) in Stephen King’s TV miniseries “Storm of the Century” (1999). The exact nature of how the Devil jumps bodies is somewhat of a mystery – as is the question of whether this is the demon Pazuzu (never mentioned in this novel) or the Devil himself – but the storyline proceeds nicely from the end of “The Exorcist,” which now has new meaning infused to the final moments of Father Karras’ life. When I read it today, it’s obvious to me that the Devil is committing the series of murders, using mentally addled patients as his proxies.
– probably played better with a more innocent reader in 1983. William Peter Blatty obliquely returns to the world of “The Exorcist” in “Legion” (1983), which was later adapted into the movie “Exorcist III.” Although the MacNeils are not in the novel (or even directly mentioned), Lieutenant Kinderman returns – this time as the main character – and there are other surprise tie-ins to the 1971 novel.Īs with the original novel, the mystery of “Legion” – again set in Washington, D.C. In this series, I look back at past entries in the “Exorcist” saga as we await word of the renewal or cancellation of the Fox TV series that continues the movie saga into modern day.
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