King Coal, King Jesus, and Moonshine: Faith and life in Appalachian fiction

Theology Today, Jul 1999 by Smylie, James

Fox places his story of Appalachian life in the post-Civil War era, when missionaries and developers discovered the place and proceeded to "save" it and extract its rich resources. Fox shows how beautiful Kentucky is raped by the exploiters, especially those involved in the coal rush. The miners turn the clear streams "black," symbolic of the damage done to the people and environment. Farmers, mountaineers, and townspeople deal with the tensions between themselves and the sometimes well-meaning but self-serving easterners. The timing and the setting are important. Before Bill Best, Fox knew of the debate raging over whether Appalachian problems are basically a matter of environment or of heredity. Some critics suggest that Fox believed the problems were genetic. His vision is actually more complicated than that. In some ways, Fox's characters are stereotypes, unlike those in Murfree's novel. John Hale, an educated civil engineer, comes from the east into the mountains. An outsider, he buys up the land and mineral rights from Kentucky "hillbillies," happy for the money, but having no idea of the true value of their property. He introduces the mining companies that extract the mountain areas of its chief resource. Early in the novel, Hale meets June Tolliver on the trail of the lonesome pine. Hale shows a fraternal interest in the beautiful mountain "miss." As the story unfolds, his interest turns romantic. Judd Tolliver, June's father, is engaged in a feud that exposes all the rage and violence of eastern Kentucky. The Tollivers have some family pedigree. Red Fox is a shadowy character, a self-made preacher steeped in the Bible and Swedenborgian literature. He sports an arsenal of weapons that would make him an honored member of the National Rifle Association.

Hale is drawn more and more into the mountains, while at the same time he is attempting to "civilize" June. While the coal companies continue to despoil the mountains, Hale sees to it that June has a beautiful garden and some privacy in her shabby and crowded mountain home. Moreover, while he is being drawn into mountain life, he sends June out, first to the Settlement School run by mountain missionaries. Then he sends her off to New York to meet his family and to study music. Meanwhile, the beauty of the flora and fauna fades and life becomes more ugly in the mining towns built by the coal companies. The wealth flows out. The sinister Red Fox predicts and then incites violence as tensions mount in the community. Hale and the men with whom he works attempt to impose law and order on the volatile situation. They hang Tolliver and eventually Red Fox. The coal boom bursts, and Hale's fortune sinks. Although June has been refined through education and travel, she nevertheless identifies with her people. Hale becomes acclimated to the environment, becoming more and more like the mountain people despite his heredity and background. In the end, he identifies himself with Appalachia's destiny. He and June unite in marriage long after their first innocent meeting in the mountains.