The Man Who Knew Belle Starr By Richard Bausch

Starting a new life, although enticing, is not as simple as it is made out to be. Whether it involves detaching from family or being defiant and not conforming to society's rules, attempting to make a clean slate is almost discouraging due to the effort it takes. The short story “The Man Who Knew Belle Starr” by Richard Bausch uses Mcrae’s lack of self-preservation and generous act of picking up a hitchhiker to illustrate the true nature of the presumed innocent Belle Starr. In Mcrae’s frantic attempts to prolong his life from a girl he thought he could trust, it becomes increasingly apparent that strangers cannot be trusted, as they may have threatening intentions. In the short story, Mcrae picks up Belle who he believes to be

When asked about the bag, Belle claims that it is “Nothing. Just another blouse” (157). While Mcrae brushes it off and believes Belle, it is clear that she seems strangely attached to the bag as if she is more secretive than she is letting off due to her ability to flip the conversation on Mcrae and make him answer her questions. The lack of assurance could indicate an ulterior motive and should have been a sign for Mcrae to be skeptical of Belle. The revelation of Belle’s true character to Mcrae happens during the rising action of the story to establish Belle’s agenda. When Mcrae decides to grab a bite at dinner, Belle tags along with him. During their experience at the diner, they go to, Belle feels the owner makes a nasty remark to her. When he does this, Belle proceeds to shoot the owner and as Belle does this, the timer for Mcrae’s life starts. Once Belle Kills the diner owner, the tone of the story shifts to that akin to hostility and fear. From this point on Mcrae only has one purpose, and that is to convince Belle to

This thought of starting new usually has connotations, but this opportunity was used to display that new life doesn’t always guarantee a good life, but that it can be mysterious and filled with dangerous people. The story also compares the two characters' builds and backgrounds to make it an anticlimactic reveal that Belle has had control of Mcrae since the beginning without him knowing. Belle tells Mcrae that “I don’t kill everybody I meet, you know.” (168). And this gives Mcrae a tad bit of hope but the statement that was meant to reassure can be reflected in its peculiar nature of why she decided to kill Mcrae. When Mcrae and Belle are in the desert and Belle is about to gun down Mcrae, a truck is seen in the distance and Mcrae tries to flag it down. At this point of the story, Mcraes’ efforts to get the attention of an unfamiliar person driving a tractor-trailer. to combat the imposing will of Belle goes in vain and the climax of the story reveals that interacting with random people has many downsides and ultimately be what leads to one’s downfall. In Mcrae’s attempt to escape Belle, he finds himself crawling in tall grass with the hope that he can get to a nearby town, or another person drives by. This does not work in Mcraes’ favor, as he sprains his ankle and finds out that Belle has another magazine full of