Essay Questions

Why does Jerry hire Carl and Gaear to kidnap his wife?

Jerry is in debt and needs to pay it off fast before he it is found out that the dealership cars he used as collateral for the loan don't exist. Thus, he hires these two goons to kidnap his wife, Jean in order that her father, Wade will pay an $80,000 ransom for her safe return.

What mistake does Jerry make when giving Carl and Gaear the dealership car?

Jerry has given Carl and Gaear a dealership car in order for them to transport his wife in the kidnapping. But, he fails to get temporary stickers for the car which makes driving the car technically illegal. And, when a state trooper sees them without the tags, he pulls them over which leads to them murdering him and two more eyewitnesses. This provides Marge with a clue as to the type of car the trooper was pulling over as he was writing a ticket before he was killed.

What is the significance of Jean's ransom being $1,000,000?

Jerry has told Carl and Gaear that the ransom will be $80,000 and that they will split it in half between the two parties. But, Jerry has actually set the ransom at $1,000,000, a price that Wade is willing to pay. Carl discovers this after killing Wade, and decides, like Jerry had already, to hide the additional money to come back for later and not to split it with Gaear. Thus, Jerry was lying to the thugs about how much ransom he was actually able to get and short changing them.