Jayber Crow

Jimmy Chatham is arrested for drunk driving and put in jail in Hargrave. Mattie asks Jayber for the bail money so Troy will not find out. Jayber gives her the cash and offers to go get Jimmy, but Mattie says she must do it. Since Athey died, Jimmy has been in rebellion and anxious to get out of Port William. He still loves his mother but resents his father’s authority. Jimmy enlists in the army as soon as he is of age and is shipped off to serve in Vietnam. Troy speaks out against anti-war protesters, but no one respects his opinion. Jimmy is killed in action and Jayber digs his grave. Jayber is deeply affected by Jimmy’s death. “We were […] making war in order to make peace […] destroying little towns in order to save them […] killing children in order that children might sleep peacefully in their beds without fear” (310). Jayber questions God and seeks spiritual answers for all the suffering in the world. In 1969, the health inspector comes to the barbershop while Burley Coulter and Big Ellis are getting haircuts. He tells Jayber he cannot continue barbering without a hot