Literary Analisys of Fire in the Hole Fire in the Hole is a short story written by Elmore Leonard. The story takes place in Harlan County, Kentucky, and follows Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens as he is tasked with bringing his old friend Boyd Crowder to justice for his crimes and involvement with his white supremacist group. Throughout the story Leonard explores the theme of justice and how different people condone their own actions. The author also delves into the mind of the main character Raylan Givens when he is faced with conflicting moral dilemmas . Theme One prevelent theme in the story is justice, and more specifically it presents a complex exploration of what it is can look like for different people. In the short story Fire in the Hole the characters Boyd Crowder, Ava and Raylan Givens all embody different types of justice. Whether it is in the form of retributive or restorative justice does entirely not matter, since they all have their reasons. Every character has their own way of justifying their actions, and therefore does not seem to be feeling any remorse for them. The real question this story …show more content…
Even if Boyd could be perceived as a typical villian, he and his white supremacist group do not recognize him as such. They justify them blowing up a black chruch (p.64) or condoning throwing a stink bomb in an IRS office (p.59), with the belief that black people are "mud people" and jew run the world (p.87). Boyd is able to carry out the violent crimes because he genuinely believes that he is implementing a form of restorative justice. He feels as if he has been disenfranchised by minoreties, and therefore has the right to fight back against a hostile takover (p.90). Through his eyes he is simply invoking what is right and restoring things to what they should be. Therefore, in accordance to Boyd's views, what he is doing can not be categorazied as revenge, it is