Why does Kidd accept the difficult job of returning Johanna home? What drives him to complete the job despite the danger and obstacles?
Created: 07/25/17
Replies: 14
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There were many reasons: he knew that he was a safer choice than some - being older; he knew that the great amount of money would make the job possible; he would be going in the direction of his home (where he could eventually meet up with his daughters); and most of all: here was a great and possibly final "message" he could run at the end of his long life.
Join Date: 03/11/15
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I think he takes the job because he knows all the really terrible things that could happen to her if anyone else took her. And because he is the man he is, he couldn't let that happen. Also, he might feel an obligation to the man who asked him to take her.
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I agree with most about reasons for taking on Johanna and the task of returning her home. He was a father of daughters himself. He knew the "routine" so to speak. He also knew the dangers out there and the cost to this young girl should she fall into the hands of bad people. The money was of some enticement but I think the man, Captain Kid, was the reason he took on this task. He was an honorable and intelligent man. He knew the territory and had some familiarity with the route through Texas.
Join Date: 02/11/16
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He was restless and not entirely happy. He had daughters, as others have said. At the very beginning of the book when he does the first reading it says "his life seemed to him thin and sour". I felt that he was ready to shake up his life by taking on Johanna. And then having done so, he could not let her down and he didn't want to. It made for a very moving story.
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I think he accepted the job out of compassion for her situation and the pull of returning home after being gone so long. I don't think it was coincidence that her family lived close to his. It was a journey for both of them to find their place and some measure of peace in where they were in their lives. They both had to forge a new path together. It was not the money. It was empathy, responsibility and memory.
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It was not for the money. He did a friend a favor - knowing that a black man traveling with a white girl was very dangerous for its own reasons. Kidd was a committed man. His word was his bond. Even with some doubts he would keep his word.
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