Johnny Cash Highway Patrolman [OFFICIAL]

: The patrol car represents Joe’s identity and authority, but it is also the vessel that allows him to literally "look the other way" as he watches his brother's taillights disappear.

: Discuss how Joe Roberts embodies the "tragic hero." He is a "good" man who commits a "bad" act (letting a criminal escape) for a reason the audience is meant to find empathetic. Johnny Cash Highway Patrolman

: The song is set against the backdrop of industrial decline (the "wheat fields" and "barrooms" of Michigan). It touches on the struggles of returning veterans (Frankie "back from the army") and the limited options for working-class men in the early 1980s. : The patrol car represents Joe’s identity and

: The storytelling is so vivid that it inspired the 1991 film The Indian Runner , directed by Sean Penn. 4. Comparative Analysis for Your Paper It touches on the struggles of returning veterans