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Red Sam Butts, whose name we first see on billboards along the highway, runs a combination filling station and dancehall that also serves food. He is a fat man with a red face, and he advertises himself as a veteran with a “happy smile.” In conversation with the Grandmother, Red Sam expresses nostalgia for a simpler time when you could leave the front door unlocked. The Grandmother eagerly agrees with this and calls Sammy a “good man.” Sam states that “a good man is hard to find,” and claims that people are terrible nowadays. He also accepts the Grandmother’s theory about how Europe is to blame for moral decay in the United States. Throughout, Red Sam Butts is quick to participate in easy nostalgia for a romanticized past, although we also sense that he uses this kind of talk as a part of his sales pitch, and is in fact more callous and greedy than he likes to appear.
Red Sam Butts Quotes in A Good Man is Hard to Find
The A Good Man is Hard to Find quotes below are all either spoken by Red Sam Butts or refer to Red Sam Butts. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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A Good Man is Hard to Find Quotes
“A good man is hard to find,” Red Sammy said. “Everything is getting terrible. I remembered the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Red Sam Butts Character Timeline in A Good Man is Hard to Find
The timeline below shows where the character Red Sam Butts appears in A Good Man is Hard to Find. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
A Good Man is Hard to Find
...a filling station and dance hall, for barbecued sandwiches. The owner of the store is Red Sammy Butts , whose name was written on signs along the highway advertising his sandwiches and the...
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The family enters The Tower, and Red Sam ’s wife takes their orders. Bailey’s wife puts music on the jukebox, and the Grandmother...
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Red Sam comes in and tells his wife to hurry up and fill their order. He sits...
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The Grandmother asks if Red Sam and his wife have read about the Misfit. Red Sam’s wife says that she wouldn’t...
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