A journey into hell
Read the article, then match up the two halves of the sentences at the end.
People always had a lot to say about Michael Sullivan. Some said that he was a good and decent man who worked hard to provide for his wife and two sons. Others said that he was no good and that he deserved what was coming. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
The stories that were told about him were either black or white, but most of the time he was just doing what he had to do. He was fiercely devoted to his family, and until the dreadful events that occurred when his son discovered the truth, Sullivan did his job and came home to his family. He was a family man who walked out of his front door every morning to earn a living to put food on the table.
It was the winter of 1931 when things went so badly wrong. Sullivan lived with his wife and two sons, Michael Jnr and Peter, in a small town in the state of Illinois in the United States. He worked for elderly John Rooney, a wealthy businessman. His sons often wondered what their father actually did, but all he told them was that he worked for Mr Rooney. That was all they needed to know.
Rooney had given Sullivan his start in life and Sullivan was 100 per cent loyal to the old man. And Rooney in turn trusted Sullivan. It was a relationship that many envied and few questioned.
In many ways, Sullivan possessed the qualities that Rooney's own son, Connor, lacked. Connor was hot-headed and impulsive where Sullivan was calm and collected. Connor was as unreliable as Sullivan was dependable. Connor envied Sullivan's place in his father's affections and waited for a chance to bring about his rival's downfall.
The opportunity eventually came from an unexpected source, and Connor seized the opportunity with both hands in order to destroy Sullivan's life.
Sullivan's son, Michael Jnr, decided one night to hide in his father's car before he drove off to work. The young boy was appalled by what he discovered. John Rooney was a big-time gangster and his father was Rooney's chief hitman. Michael Jnr saw his father take part in the brutal murder of one of Rooney's enemies.
The boy's hiding place was discovered and Michael Jnr, being the only one to witness the gangland shooting, has to be silenced, Connor decided. Connor told the Chicago gangster network to eliminate Sullivan and his family.
Sullivan packed his son into a car and drove into the night. He had to find a safe place. But there was no sanctuary for them. As he drove into the inky blackness of the night, he set off on a journey into a hell of his own making.
Road To Perdition
A film directed by Sam Mendes
From the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins & Richard Piers Rayner
Screenplay by David Self
Match up the two parts of these sentences
1. People had divided opinions about ...
2. Michael Sullivan had ...
3. Sullivan's sons were curious about ...
4. John Rooney's businessman image was ...
5. Rooney's son was ...
6. Sullivan works as a ...
7. When Michael Jnr discovers the truth about his father, he is ...
8. Sullivan and his son set off to search for a ...
a. sanctuary
b. two sons
c. devastated
d. the winter of 1931
e. Michael Sullivan
f. their father's job
g. either black or white
h. a cover-up
i. jealous of Sullivan
j. gangland hitman
Answers: 1. e; 2. b; 3. f; 4. h; 5. i; 6. j; 7. c; 8. a
