This essay is a film analysis of the 1955 thriller, The Night of the Hunter. Night_of_the_Hunter_Film_Analysis
Foretelling through Symbols
“It’s a hard world for little things,” symbolizes the theme of the film The Night of the
Hunter. John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce), two innocent kids whose father has
been arrested for stealing money, are forced to keep the biggest secret. That secret is where this
money is hidden. For these two youngsters, keeping this secret is tough. The money is held in
Pearl’s doll that she carries around everywhere. The town’s preacher, Harry Powell (Robert
Mitchum), has married and killed the children’s mother and now only has one desire, to find out
from John and Pearl where all of the money is hidden. The Night of the Hunter is a story of two
innocent, orphaned kids who are being chased by a fanatical man. Although some of Sally Jane
Bruce’s (Pearl Harper’s) acting is unrealistic and appears contrived, Charles Laughton effectively
adds suspense through his foreshadowing by using shadows and lighting, LOVE and HATE
tattoo, and music which all efficiently foreshadow the outcome of the subsequent scene.
In The Night of the Hunter, the shadows and lighting add suspense to the scene and
symbolize what is about to come. One reoccurring use of shadows in the film is the shadow that
appears most every time before Harry Powell, the unwavering preacher, enters the scene. This
shadow is used to indicate something bad is about to happen. In one scene Pearl takes all of the
hidden money and begins to play with it and make paper dolls using the money. As the scene
continues you begin to see a shadow of the preacher coming towards to door. This shadow adds
suspense for the viewers because they wait in awe to discover what will happen when the
preacher catches the kids with the money.
The use of shadows allows the viewers to realize what is happening before the characters
in the scene know. Viewers know that Harry is coming, and this adds suspense as they wait for
the characters to discover that he is coming. Towards the end of the film this use of shadows is
drawn on again in Mrs. Cooper’s (Lillian Gish) house. Mrs. Cooper becomes the caretaker of
John and Pearl during the film. All of a sudden you begin to see a shadow of the man appear in
the house, this is another scene that adds to the suspense of the film and gives the viewer insight
about what will happen next. It suggests a forthcoming event. The lighting of the scene also
foreshadows about the film. During the scene before the killing of John and Pearl’s mother, the
mother lies in a bed with her hands crossed over her chest like the way a deceased person lays in
their coffin. You can see a faint outlining of light around her body. This outline is in the shape of
a coffin and it is an indicator of what is soon going to become of John and Pearl’s mother. During
a very suspenseful scene, Harry is waiting outside Mrs. Cooper’s house waiting for the children
to come to him when Ruby, one of Mrs. Cooper’s children, came into the shot holding a candle.
The candle blinded the audience and Mrs. Cooper of what was going on outside and when the
candle was blown out the preacher was gone. This causes fear for the viewers as they wait with
anticipation of where Harry Powell might be. This use of lighting and shadows is effective in
foreshadowing events ahead.
Harry’s hands become significant because they are a prominent symbol that shows
whether the preacher has hate or love towards the situation he is in. Harry Powell has tattoos of
the words HATE and LOVE going across his knuckles on his hands. One word is on each hand
and they both represent bigger ideas in the film. Harry uses his love hand when he is committing
acts of violence or is holding the money, or close to reaching his goal. Harry uses his hate hand
when is showing false affection towards the kids, the children’s mother, and doesn’t like the
situation he is in other situations he is put in. Pearls doll holds all of the money that is left by the
children’s father, whenever Harry is holding the doll he is doing so with the hand that has love
tattooed on the knuckles. This symbolizes his love for money and shows his passion for
obtaining this fortune. Though the love hand shows his love of violence, he also uses this hand as
a sign of peace to people as he tries to earn their trust in order to take advantage of them. When
he tells the story of why these words are tattooed on his hand he tells the townspeople a bible
story that has to do with love and hate. In the end of the story he says, “Love wins”. This is part
of his plan to gain the trust of the townspeople, he is trying to appear like a loving man, but he is
really only a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Another instance where this hand is used as a sign of peace
is when he arrives at Mrs. Cooper’s house inquiring about two children; those children were John
and Pearl. He wanted Mrs. Cooper to like him so she released the children to him. In order to
gain her trust he clearly held his love hand towards her to show her the “love” he was giving to
her.
The hate hand is used to show false affection for people and situations. This hand is
significant because it shows the viewers how the main character is feeling in the situation he is
in, without blatantly saying it. Whenever the preacher is holding Pearl he is always doing so with
his hate hand. He also talks to the townspeople about “Willa’s runaway” with his hate hand
clearly in view. Willa’s (the children’s mother) runaway was a lie to cover the murder that Harry
had committed of Willa. This shows the audience his false affection towards Willa and
demonstrates how he doesn’t care about her absence. In one scene, John slams the door on
Harry’s hand. This is the hate hand and this symbolizes how John doesn’t like the hate that Harry
Powell is showing towards them and he is “slamming the door on hate and locking it out”. The
significance of the tattoos is to show the true feelings of the main character and to allow the
audience to predict the outcome of the situation.
The director uses Harry’s hymns and Mrs. Cooper’s lullabies to foreshadow the good and
bad events that are following. Harry is constantly singing a song throughout the movie. This
hymn has lyrics that say, “Leaning, Leaning, safe and secure from all alarms”. This song shows
the irony of the scene because Harry Powell does not demonstrate being safe and secure. He in
fact demonstrates the opposite. Whenever this hymn is played in his deep, soothing voice you
know that Harry is near and that a bad event is soon to appear. His singing is similar to what you
would hear in a nightmare or an evil and dark situation. Mrs. Cooper is represents something
different with her singing. Her singing is more dream-like and is like a lullaby. Her songs are
about the bible stories and those stories are what the children hear before bed every night. When
you hear Mrs. Cooper singing it represents a happier scene in the film.
The unrealistic acting of Sally Jane Bruce who plays Pearl Harper in the film hijacks the
eerie and daunting mood of the film and alters the mood of the scene. One example of the acting
that takes away from the atmosphere of the film is when John and Pearl are on the river in a boat
and Pearl begins to sing. This is an unrealistic scene because Pearl’s voice sounds like she is an
adult and doesn’t effectively demonstrate how Pearls voice should sound. This is a scene that
distracts the viewers from the suspenseful and eerie mood of the film. Another instance where
Pearls actions are unrealistic is when her and John and running up the stairs away from Harry
Powell. She runs so slowly and leisurely it doesn’t seem normal for a person to be running that
slow when a wild man is coming to kill them. The way that Pearl acts in some scene of the film
distracts the viewers and seizes the mood that the other scenes of the film have created for the
viewers.
In conclusion, the symbols are a method used by Charles Laughton that creates a suspenseful mood
for the viewers. They foreshadow forthcoming events and sometimes reveal things about
characters and situations that are not blatantly stated within the plot of the film. These symbols
show that things aren’t always what they seem. That concept is true in life. There are wolves in
sheep’s clothing, like Harry Powell, in every town and they cannot fool you. People may portray
symbols that suggest characteristics they have in life. The Night of the Hunter’s symbols reveal a
moral which is about how people aren’t always what they appear and sometimes the way they act
can suggest that.With these symbols added to the plot, it creates a scary and suspenseful mood,
which enhances the enjoyment of the viewers and suggests the outcome of scenes that are
coming.
