No Simple Accident
In the story, Haircut, it is no surprise that the loutish Jim met his demise at the hands of one he tormented. While satisfaction may be found in his demise, we must ask was Jim’s death purely accidental or was there a plot to murder him? Unfortunately, the answer is not simply spelled out for us. There is much evidence throughout the story that, while the town has declared Jim’s death accidental, this was no simple hunting accident but we must read between the lines of the story Whitey tells.
We cannot rely upon Whitey’s presentation of the events leading to Jim’s death. He has proven himself to be uneducated and ignorant (para. 2). He delights, and thereby excuses, Jim’s despicable behavior (para. 34), calling Jim’s acts of cruelty “jokes” (para. 21). His lack of compassion towards Jim’s victims is further evidence of his own questionable character (para. 52). Whitey goes as far as to minimize Jim’s attempted rape of Julie when he refers to the......
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