The Night of the Hunter ***1/2

By Davis Grubbs
Copyright 1953
This edition 1999 By Prion Books Limited, London
Pages 266

This is some dark stuff, which is why I totally loved this book. A movie was made of this book, which was also great, which was directed by Charles Laughton (of Hunchback of Notre Dame fame) and starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters.

Now I saw the film first and it was a while ago, but it caught the feeling of the book. Of course the book was more detailed, but in this case the movie suffered little for that. The movie seemed to get the gist of the plot and the feeling object terror). The only thing that the movie lacked which was the setting (almost a character really) of the river. Constant references were made to the river (the Ohio I believe) and it became a menacing element of the book.

So the book opens up with a man in prison talking to a priest on the day before he was to be hung. He had shot and killed two men in a bungled robbery attempt during the Great Depression. The priest was trying to find out where the money he stole was, but the man wouldn't tell. The man had hid the money and only his children knew where it was.

So after the man's death, the priest goes to find the widow. Now this priest is special in that he wanders and preaches where he can find a place to stay a bit. he has no parish to call his own. He also chases weak, susceptible widows for their money. And when God gives him the word, he kills the widows and takes her money. Oh, and he has tattooed on the knuckles of his hand, LOVE and HATE.

So this priest finds the widow of the hung man and ends up marrying her. He tries to find where the money is hidden and his "cover" becomes more and more unveiled as time progresses. He eventually ends up chasing them down the river. The children are found on the river bank by the matron of a small orphanage-like household where she takes care of the children. Eventually the priest finds them and there is a confrontation.

Now what's interesting about this book was that I was trying to decide what the author's opinion on religion was. I mean he has this insane killer priest. That at first tells me that perhaps the author is cynical about religion. The priest uses the trust that comes with being a priest to pry his way into the lives of innocent people, and people supported him, even if they had heard rumors of conflicting reports (from the older boy that was eventually chased for example). This would seem to mean a bias against religion. But, the priest was not simply using his priesthood as a ruse. Whether he was officially a priest or not is not known, but he was constantly quoting scripture and giving sermons. Even within his interior dialogue he spoke to and of God. He believed he was a preacher. After all, It was God who gave him permission to steal and kill from widows.

But... the woman of the orphanage was also a religious person. And very strict with the children. Perhaps better said, she was firm but fair. She took care of the kids and defended them. So you have that contrast of two religious people. This character would seem to demonstrate the author's positive feelings toward religion.

I guess one way to look at the religion question is to look at the types of religion that each character practice. The preacher represents a more organized or traditional religion, perhaps one that has gone horribly awry, while the matron represents a more pragmatic and family values oriented religion. Perhaps, the author's preacher character is a criticism of organized religion.

There were two children that were being chased or "hunted" by the priest. One was an older boy, maybe about 10 years old. The other was a small girl, maybe about 5 years old. The boy was the one who had all the responsibility of taking care of his sister and keeping the secret. What's interesting about the book is that after the conflict is resolved, the boy regresses. He turns from a intelligent Kid who always is aware of everything to a boy that can't remember who is who. He gets confused at the trial on the witness stand of whether they are talking about the priest or his dead father for example. I am assume that the intense pressure of what had transpired simply make him break down.

Here's a trailer from the movie.