The Pillowman

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of murder (including child victims), child abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, and graphic violence (including police brutality).

Katurian sits in the interrogation room with Ariel and Tupolski, quickly writing his formal confession as the officers read it over his shoulder. He writes that he buried the third child where his parents are buried, near a wishing well by his house. In exchange for the confession, Ariel and Tupolski agree to save Katurian’s stories in his case file. Ariel is particularly hostile to Katurian after the confession, explaining that he has a personal hatred for child abusers. Despite this, Katurian somehow knows that he can trust Ariel to keep his stories safe. As Ariel is about to hook Katurian up to a battery to electrocute him as a form of torture, Katurian guesses that Ariel was sexually abused by his parents. Tupolski and Ariel are taken aback by how Katurian was able to guess this correctly. Tupolski reveals that he was also a victim of child abuse at the hands of his violent father. Katurian presses Ariel for details about his father, and Tupolski tells him that Ariel murdered his father by suffocating him with a pillow.

Tupolski realizes that since the girl in “The Little Jesus” was buried alive, the girl Katurian purports to have buried may still be alive as well. Ariel leaves to alert the forensics team that the girl might still be living. While Ariel is gone, Tupolski tells Katurian a story of his own. In Tupolski’s story, a young deaf boy walks along a railroad. A train is coming behind him, but the boy can’t hear it. An old man atop a tower in the distance sees that the boy will be hit if he doesn’t move, so he throws a paper plane from the tower at just the right time and angle such that the boy jumps off the railroad to catch it, narrowly avoiding being hit by the train. Tupolski says that the old man in the tower represents himself—as a detective, Tupolski saves innocent people from criminals. Like the man in the tower, he does this work thanklessly and at a distance. Tupolski tells Katurian that he likes his story “The Pillowman,” and Katurian correctly guesses that Tupolski once lost a child of his own in an accident.

Ariel returns in a state of shock. A happy, healthy little girl trails after him. Ariel says the girl was found by the wishing well with a few piglets and a can of green paint. Ariel, Tupolski, and Katurian all realize that the girl was a part of a reenactment of “The Little Green Pig” instead of “The Little Jesus.” Ariel and Katurian are relieved that the girl is alive, but Tupolski seems annoyed that the investigation went awry. Katurian admits that he didn’t kill any of the children. Since Katurian’s confession was a lie, Tupolski says he will not hold up his end of the deal, and he will burn Katurian’s stories. Ariel no longer wants to execute Katurian, but Tupolski insists. He puts a hood over Katurian and says he will count down from 10 before shooting him, but he shoots Katurian in the head after only seven seconds. Tupolski leaves the room, commanding Ariel to burn the stories.

In his last seven seconds, Katurian mentally composes a new story. In this story, the Pillowman visits Michal as a child and tries to convince him to end his life. Michal refuses, opting to endure a life of anguish since his suffering leads Katurian to write all his stories. Katurian meant to finish the story with an unhappy ending—Michal’s suffering would all be for nothing because the officers will burn Katurian’s stories anyway. Since he’s shot a few seconds too soon, however, Katurian doesn’t get to the ending. Ariel decides to save the stories in Katurian’s case file.