The Hunter

Content Warning: This section of the guide references domestic abuse.

The Hunter takes place in the fictional town of Ardnakelty, Ireland. French particularly highlights the importance of cultural identity through the characters’ dialect, the connection to their community, and the complexity of family dynamics. Ireland is a historically religious country with a large amount of small, rural towns reliant upon agriculture or other blue-collar work. After being subject to longstanding English colonization until Irish independence was achieved in 1922, a fraught relationship with English people developed, which is represented in the Ardnakelty men’s desire to swindle Rushborough. The country was largely a monoculture until an economic boom in the 1990s and 2000s, and traditional ideas clung to areas that remained less impacted by rising globalism and cosmopolitanism. Additionally, one of the most well-known scandals in Ireland involved the abuse of women and children by the Catholic Church. This exposed corruption caused widespread discussion on the inclination in Irish culture to repress trauma, avoid addressing misbehavior, and shun those who may not adhere to their traditions.

This phenomenon plays out in the relationship between the people of Ardnakelty and the Reddy family. Due to the cultural