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Funding for this project is provided by
the Library Services and Technology Act administered by the Institute of Museum
and Library Services and the West Virginia Library Commission.
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We share a history, now share a book.
 is
a state-wide book discussion group
designed to promote dialogue among
community members gathered in various locations throughout the state.
To
accomplish this goal, participants are urged to join book discussion groups and
attend related special events, such as meeting the author, character portrayals,
movies, and workshops.
Suggested Discussion Starters
(pdf version)
Prepared by Thomas E. Douglass
1.) Money and Religion have always been points of contention and focus in
Appalachian life. How does The Night of the Hunter portray those contentions?
2.) The Preacher Harry Powell is based on the notorious Harry Powers, the
Bluebeard of Quiet Dell (near Clarksburg), a lonely hearts killer who preyed
upon widows and their children for insurance money. The defiant Rachel Cooper
who finds and protects John and Pearl is based on the real-life Rachel Kutscher,
a woman who cared for orphaned children near Quiet Dell and whom Grubb first met
when he was 14 years old. Are there other real parallels between the book and
West Virginia life – characters, places, situations, social customs, etc.?
3.) Grubb was known as a symbolic writer, the river as symbol of escape and
freedom, for example. Are there other symbolic elements in the story? How do
these symbols interact with one another and tell a story of their own?
4.) Why do you think writers like Stephen King admire The Night of the Hunter?
5.) Like many Grubb stories, The Night of the Hunter takes place during the
Great Depression, when jobs and money and food were scarce: how does this
setting help dramatize the plight of Ben Harper and his family, Willa, John, and
Pearl?
6.) The actor Charles Laughton, who directed the film version of the story,
called the novel a “Mother Goose tale.” The novel does have a child’s fairytale
quality to it. The Appalachian Jack Tales often tell stories about defenseless,
wayward children who have to use their wits and luck to outsmart their evil
step-parents or to defeat some other evil adult character. And the Appalachian
“Pretty Polly” songs often tell stories of unprotected women manipulated and
victimized by men. How is The Night of the Hunter a fairytale for children and
for adults? Specifically, how does the novel present a moral and empower
children and women?
7.) In his third published novel The Watchman (1961) Grubb writes, “For what is
Hate but Love that has lost its way in the dark.” It is a saying and a theme he
liked to repeat in his work. Confused ideas about sex and love often serve as a
source of evil in his work and especially in The Night of the Hunter. How does
the mix of sex and love help drive the story?
8.) Could this story only be set in West Virginia? Yes? No? Why or why not?
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