A Simple Plan: Does Hank Get What He Deserves - Essay Example

At the beginning of the story, Hank Mitchel in the company of his brother Jacob and Jacob’s friend called Lou in Jacob’s truck. “…, Howdy, Hank," he said, grinning. Jacob smiled at me from behind the wheel. His dog, a big, overgrown mutt, mostly German shepherd, but with some Labrador thrown in on top, was in the back. It was a male dog, but Jacob had named him Mary Beth, after a girl he dated in high school, his first and only girlfriend. He referred to him as a "she," too, as if the dog's name had blinded him to his gender.

I climbed in, Lou pulled himself up behind me, and we backed our way down my driveway to the street.” (p. 4). A fox crosses their path, and the three of them decide to chase after it. The fox leads them to discover a plane that had crashed into the woods. Upon scrutinizing and checking the plane, they find a dead pilot and a bag of money. The three of them decide to keep the money and share it later when there could be no more talk of it. The three men discovered the money together and if they were to share the cash; then they should have done so in equal proportions.

What followed indicated that Hank was a greedy man, especially for money First, Hank feels that the money would not be safe if they kept the whole sum. Consequently, his wife advises him to take some of the money back to the plane. They hope that that would help them to waylay suspicion. While back in the woods, Hank kills Mr. Pederson along selfish lines. He knew within him that Mr. Pederson would spill the secret to the public. Hank wanted to escape the liability for having killed a person, so he sets up Lou by blackmailing him using the money.

After Lou discovers Hank’s intention, he becomes agitated and engages in a fuss with him prompting Jacob to kill Lou. “…He didn't finish his sentence. There was an explosion behind me, a flash of blue light followed instantly by a sense of movement over my left shoulder. I ducked, shutting my eyes, and heard Lou's gun clattered to the tiled floor.” (p. 122). Jacob also kills Lou’s girlfriend Nancy because he knew that the former would threaten their security, and most importantly, the money.

“…She reacted to this statement as if it were a slap in the face. “You bastards," she hissed. "You shot him for the money, didn't you?" (p. 123). Hank’s selfishness directs him into killing Lou’s property owner because he had an idea of the money. He still wanted to escape liability for his actions. After he sets up his plans to camouflage the killings, his brother breaks down into tears. Hank kills him too because he suspected that Jacob could not stand the police’s interrogations.

Hank wanted to have the money alone; for this reason, he killed everyone who came close to knowing the truth. Greed does not pay anyone positively, instead, leads to destruction. This statement manifests in the end when Hank discovers that the money had marks identifying it as stolen. He fails to become rich in the first place. The second punishment, which he gets, is his daughter having permanent brain damage after she plunged into a pool of running water. Hank remains with haunting memories of his brother especially when he looks at his son named after Jacob.

Hank’s failure to get the riches and the punishment he got out for his selfish actions are good to pay for evil actions. Greed leads people into doing bad things, which deserve payment by desperate means that could teach perpetrators the importance of morality. All along, Hank wanted to share the money alone, which is why no one should sympathize with him. Conclusion Hank did not get what he hoped for because he lost the supposed riches and his brother Jacob. His actions in the novel reveal malice and greed, which should not have real returns for anyone.

He should not have killed innocent people in the course of his pursuit of wealth. His story is a lesson to all people with similar characters. He got what he deserved out of killing people, punishment.