The Hunter

Content Warning: This section of the guide references domestic abuse.

The Hunter takes place in the fictional town of Ardnakelty, Ireland. French particularly highlights the importance of cultural identity through the characters’ dialect, the connection to their community, and the complexity of family dynamics. Ireland is a historically religious country with a large amount of small, rural towns reliant upon agriculture or other blue-collar work. After being subject to longstanding English colonization until Irish independence was achieved in 1922, a fraught relationship with English people developed, which is represented in the Ardnakelty men’s desire to swindle Rushborough. The country was largely a monoculture until an economic boom in the 1990s and 2000s, and traditional ideas clung to areas that remained less impacted by rising globalism and cosmopolitanism. Additionally, one of the most well-known scandals in Ireland involved the abuse of women and children by the Catholic Church. This exposed corruption caused widespread discussion on the inclination in Irish culture to repress trauma, avoid addressing misbehavior, and shun those who may not adhere to their traditions.

This phenomenon plays out in the relationship between the people of Ardnakelty and the Reddy family. Due to the cultural context and the isolated Irish landscape, the Ardnakelty people focus on their community to guide them through difficult times. However, the Reddy family experiences ostracization because of their family history of swindling other members of the town. The divide between a person and their community causes angst and loss, and in the Reddys’ case, it allows for abusive circumstances to continue. French shows this in how Ardnakelty turns their back on Sheila after she marries Johnny and moves to the mountains. Since Trey and Sheila do not have outside help before Lena and Cal, they do not fully realize how domestic abuse affects them. French shows how domestic abuse perpetuates itself through isolation and low self-esteem; Sheila’s misplaced trust in Johnny contrasts with the outside perspective of someone like Cal. As the attitudes and manners of communication are different in some ways from Cal’s experience as an American, he struggles to understand the strong commitment to family and community amid abuse. Cal realizes that the ruggedness of the landscape forces the Ardnakelty people to rely on each other for survival; therefore, they are quicker to forgive one of their own even after abuse and pain. The Ardnakelty community relies on trust because the harshness of their surroundings forces them to rely on other people for survival rather than focusing on their individualism. However, the insular nature of their town also means that gossip or judgments spread quickly through the community unchecked, and unsavory behavior can be swept under the rug to maintain the status quo in the community.