Now that I've finished reading the story, I want to ask: is the uncle's name a reference to Dolcette comics?
Secondly, I'm curious how much of this was planned in advance. I understand that some vagueness about the reasons is a deliberate authorial technique. But still?
Is Merle a secret sadistic maniac who has been terrorizing the neighborhood for years?
Of course, all final decisions were always made voluntarily, but leading a young mind to the right decision is not such a difficult task for an experienced adult man.
And how involved were his sisters in this?

And finally, will they come to dinner?

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)