Examples Of Greed In The Night Of The Hunter

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Driven by Greed The Night of the Hunter, directed by Charles Laughton, tells the story of Harry Powell and the trouble he causes when he goes to a town after discovering that there is money hidden there. The main focus of the movie are his interactions with John and Pearl, the children who know where the money is hidden. Harry Powell is motivated by greed. It is shown that Powell is motivated by greed when, in an earlier part of the movie, he is trying to convince Ben Harper to give up the location of the money that Harper had gotten after robbing a bank. After learning that his cell mate, Ben Harper, robbed a bank and hid the money Powell wants to find out where it is hidden. In the beginning of the scene, Harper is murmuring in his sleep. …show more content…

After arriving in town, he finds Willa and manages to get close to her. Powell mentions that he knew her husband before he died, but hides the fact that he was also in prison by saying that he was the prison’s preacher, and that he had recently resigned. Determined to find the money he marries Willa, even after realizing that she doesn’t know where the money is, in the hopes that she will somehow lead him closer to finding the money. Soon after he marries her, Powell finds out that her children, John and Pearl, know where the money is. When Willa realizes why Powell married her, he kills her to hide his true motivation from the other townspeople and then continues to act as though he cares about her children because he knows that they know where the money is …show more content…

After Powell threatens John, Pearl tells him that the money is hidden in her doll. Before he can get it the kids manage to escape and lock him in the cellar. He breaks down the door and chases the children down to the boat where they start off down the river. Driven by greed, Powell kills a man and steals a horse to follow them, and in the movie, it is hinted that Powell does not sleep while he’s trying to catch up to John and Pearl, which further emphasizes his greed and how badly he wants to have the money. Later, when the children are at Rachel’s house, he finds them and initially tries to convince her that he is their father. When John says that Powell is not their father and Rachel chooses to believe him, Powell decides to sit outside her house during the night in the hopes that he will have the chance to get the money. Even with Rachel keeping watch with a gun close by, he goes inside the house because he’s so determined to get the

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