Saturday, August 13, 2011

What do Ben Price and Jimmy Valentine have in common in "A Retrieved Reformation"?

Jimmy Valentine just got out of prison for robbing safes. He is an expert at his job, and the expensive tools he had demonstrate how good at it he was and how much he enjoyed what he did. When Jimmy got out of prison, he decided to go straight. No more safe-cracking for him!


Jimmy did not get rid of his tools. You might wonder how Jimmy could go straight but still be in possession of those tools. Even selling them could be construed as a criminal act, but they were very valuable.


Like Jimmy, Ben Price was an expert at his job. He was on the other side of the law, a cop.



Ben Price knew how Jimmy worked. Jimmy would go from one city to another far away. He always worked alone. He always left quickly when he was finished. He enjoyed being with nice people. For all these reasons, it was not easy to catch Mr. Valentine.



Both Ben Price and Jimmy Valentine seem to understand the other. Ben does not think that Jimmy will quit. However, Jimmy found a nice small town and fell in love. After a year, he decided to give away his tools.


Ben and Jimmy are both honorable men. Jimmy risks his freedom to rescue the little girl, and Ben risks his job to let Jimmy go after he has cracked a safe.



“Hello, Ben!” said Jimmy, still with his strange smile. “You’re here at last, are you? Let’s go. I don’t care, now.”


And then Ben Price acted rather strangely. “I guess you’re wrong about this, Mr. Spencer,” he said. “I don’t believe I know you, do I?”



Jimmy rescued the girl because it was the right thing to do.  Ben Price acknowledged that, and he realized that it meant that Jimmy had reformed. A criminal would never risk everything just to save a little girl trapped in a safe. Ben considered it the right thing to do to let Jimmy go, since he had been acting morally if not legally.

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