What Is Ben Hall's Relationship In A Land More Kind Than Home

In Wiley Cash’s A Land More Kind Than Home, Ben Hall, both husband and father, encounters a series of devastating events in the relationship he had with his wife, Julie Hall. The painful remnants of this relationship lead to a regression of his character during the downfall of his family, altering his state of mind and outlook on the idea of home and family. Ben Hall once had hoped for familial stability; his relationship with his wife ruthlessly disappointed him, leaving him with a negative and hopeless view on home and family. Ben Hall appeared emotionally unscathed for a large portion of his life, through both child abuse and a weak marriage. His sudden, but anticipated, downfall occurred after the relationship with his wife had been destroyed

From Jess’ perspective, when Ben had returned home after finding out from the affair and failed an attempt to speak to him, “Ben was still standing there looking at [Jess]. Then [Jess] heard [Ben] close the door just as quiet as he’d opened it” (Cash pg. 273). After Jess had revealed the news to Ben, he drank alcohol and sent off to threaten his wife and the pastor. However, he returned home to say goodnight to his son. When Jess pretended to be asleep, the tone of the passage can indicate that Ben was still in love with Jess and showed him gentle care that he would no longer give his wife. Later, after Ben had been shot, “he’d rolled his head back and to the right like he was trying to get a look at the house behind him where Jess was still hunkered down on the porch” (Cash pg. 294). Even during the emotional trauma and life threatening experience of being shot, his priority was to check on Jess in his final minutes. While he knew there was nothing left to do to save his family, his love for his son wouldn’t disappear along with his hope. This left his bitter-sweet connection to his family alive until the very

“Mama’d told me I should call him Grandpa if I ever saw him again because it would make Daddy feel good” (Cash Pg. 79). Despite Ben’s difficult relationship with his father, he wanted to pursue a family further, connecting his kids to his parent. He wanted access to his father as a loving figure, though he had taught him he couldn't ever fulfill this role for him. After he had lost the opportunity to continue attending college, “Ben just hung around Madison County, got married to a sweet-looking girl named Julie, and he’d been [there] ever since” (Cash pg. 94). Ben married young, likely mindlessly, trying to fill the void he had for a family. While Julie was “sweet-looking,” she wasn’t kind to Ben, nor their children, and this failed Ben and put him in a worse emotional state than he had to begin with. Ben’s desire for a family had unfortunately led him down the wrong path, pushing him further into his