This first half of the Kentucky Cycle was filled with death, pain, and hypocrisy. The first thing I noticed that the writer of this play is clearly working hard to argue is the violence present in the hearts of the Appalachian people. In each of the five parts to Part One someone “innocent” gets murdered. In the first one, it was an entire tribe of Native Americans along with Michael’s companion. In the second one, Morning Star’s freedom. The Homecoming: a baby girl, Michael Rowen, Joe Talbert. The list continues. It gets to the point that the viewer kind of expects a gruesome murder or backstabbing; there is no more shock factor. The fact that the viewer reaches this point speaks to the rhetoric that Schenkkan is willingly spreading: that the people of Appalachia have hate in their hearts and blood on their hands. Murder in Appalachian culture isn’t just a moral stain on their fancy Confederate uniforms (or the horse feather in the cap of righteous anger), it’s hereditary; the ability to murder has been passed down from the first pioneer who fell in love with the region to all of his descendants. Another issue that should be noted is the emphasis on the love of land that has motivated the majority of these murders. The desire for land ownership and autonomy turns seemingly innocent young men (as seen in the beginning of each play) to the poisoned hearts seen later in the same play or in subsequent plays.