Character Analysis of Butch in ‘A Perfect World’

Butch is an escaped convict who has taken it upon himself to kidnap a child named Phillip during a home invasion as he makes his way across Texas with his fellow escapee, Terry.  During its twists and turns, the plot takes a criminal situation and creates from it very light and fluffy feelings.  While the main characters are a criminal and a kidnapped boy, the criminal turns out to be more like a very troubled teddy bear, and the kidnapped boy has a mind of his own.  Butch sheds his typical criminal persona, making his best characteristics shine like those of an American hero.

Interestingly, while Butch is a hardened criminal who has served time in prison, he comes off as a decent person. The film is set in early 1960s Texas, with the same gritty feel of any other Clint Eastwood film, but also with Eastwood’s characteristic “hero” story. When Butch escapes prison and takes Phillip as a hostage, it becomes big news across the country. Butch doesn’t emanate an aura of fear—in fact, when he stops in a diner to grab some food, the waitresses stare and throw themselves at him longingly.  Although Butch appears to be the kidnapper, he in fact also acts as Phillip’s protector; when Butch’s prison partner, Terry, breaks into a house and slaps Phillip, Butch attacks Terry to keep Phillip and his mother safe. Terry constantly escapes danger and is commonly portrayed as almost heroic throughout the movie, and especially in his dialogue with Phillip. For example, Butch encourages the kidnapped Phillip by declaring, “You know, Phillip, you have a goddamned red, white and blue American right to eat cotton candy and ride roller coasters” (Eastwood). It is obvious that he is a multifaceted person who has experienced many damaging events in his life, which have ultimately led him to the moments shown within the film. Butch’s ambiguity creates a theme throughout the film that humanity is constantly teetering on a fine line between morality and immorality.

The character dynamics are interesting, as Butch and his escape partner Terry do not like each other, even though they have escaped from prison with each other.  The two break into Phillip’s family home soon after escaping prison, which is where they meet Phillip.  The kidnapping is not violent, bloody, or horrendous; instead, Butch basically talks Phillip into coming away with them by promising that he will not have to abide by his parents’ rules anymore—that he can be free to do what he wants just like him, the man breaking into his parents’ home.  Butch offers Phillip the chance to celebrate holidays (such as trick or treating), which he wasn’t able to do previously because it is forbidden by their religion.  While the kidnapping was not violent, Butch’s murder of Terry is—this murder is an act of passion stemmed from Butch’s initial hatred of Terry, but also from the terrible ways in which Terry had taken to treating Phillip. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Butch relates to Phillip. While in the car, Butch tells Phillip, “Me and you got a lot in common, Phillip. Both of us is handsome devils, we both like RC Cola, and neither one of us got a old man worth a damn” (Eastwood), during which Phillip smiles and makes eye contact with Butch. It is clear that Phillip and Butch do not have a relationship based on fear, but of a mutual desire for freedom. As they travel together, a friendship forms that is based on moral obligations and choices, with an equality that is unusual not only for an adult and child but also for a kidnapper and victim.

As Phillip is away from his family, and they are eagerly searching for him, Butch becomes somewhat of a father figure for him.  Throughout his conversations with Butch, Phillip is able to develop his own understanding of morality and what it means to make bad choices versus good choices, as well as the consequences of both. While stealing a new getaway car, the car owner comes out with a gun and tries to stop the carjacking. Phillip temporarily gets separated from Butch. Instead of running to save his own skin, Butch circles the car back toward Phillip, yelling, “Get in the car, Phillip! Jump!” As the car owner reaches into the window to grab the boy, Phillip bites the man’s hand as Butch looks on with concern (Eastwood). 

The trick or treating scene late in the film is particularly riveting, as Butch has to make a choice whether he will take Phillip’s hand or not. They are surrounded by police officers and Butch knows that his bid for freedom is over. Rather than trying to negotiate for his own life, he attempts to negotiate for Phillip to be treated kindly and cared for when he is rescued by the officers. Through Phillip, Butch is able to see something in himself that he could not previously see.  As a convict who has been caught and shot, his future is grim—but Phillip allows him to escape that aspect of his reality and touch base with his best attributes—of which he has many.  Because of Phillip, Butch becomes a father figure and a protector, his life no longer wasted.  While Butch’s father was physically absent from his life due to his own criminal activity, Phillip’s father is absent in a different way, wherein Butch and Phillip’s backgrounds have prepared them for the ensuing relationship.

Perhaps the real criminal in this film is the inattentive or preoccupied father.  Perhaps the real hero is not actually Butch, but rather Red, the sheriff who is on the hunt for Butch.  Either way, the story references the ways in which change can occur quickly in a person’s previous way of life. A Perfect World demonstrates how a person’s inclination toward crime (or “evil”) and conversion to moral thinking (or “good”) can change because of unexpected influences.

Work Cited

Eastwood, Clint, dir. A Perfect World. Warner Brothers, 1993.