Alice not receiving communion
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Alice, Sweet Alice
Mr_Ectoplasma — 9 years ago(November 24, 2016 12:19 PM)
Does anyone know why exactly Alice is never allowed communion in the film? During the first church scene, it is interrupted by Karen's death, but again at the end, she is passed over by Father Tom. Some have said that this is because she was born out of wedlockI was raised Catholic, and am unaware of that being a reason not to provide communion, at least for the child. So was the implication then that Alice wasn't baptized? I don't believe this is ever made entirely clear.
-
zwot — 9 years ago(December 19, 2016 10:17 AM)
As you said, Alice's first attempt to receive communion was interrupted by the discovery of Karen's body. On the second attempt, Father Tom passed her over to protect her.
Father Tom would have known Alice was conceived (not born) out of wedlock. Apparently Mrs Tredoni knew this too, either because he told her or she overheard or she just did the math. So when Father Tom learned Mrs Tredoni was the murderer, he must have realized she had killed Karen to prevent Karen from receiving her first communion. (Karen was not conceived or born out of wedlock but was still "unclean" because of her parents' prior sin and thus undeserving of communion, as far as crazy Mrs Tredoni was concerned.)
Therefore, Father Tom feared Mrs Tredoni could fly into a murderous rage at the sight of Alice receiving communion right next to her. Too bad he didn't think to protect himself as well.