Faith

The theme of faith is prominent and underlines not only the primary speaking characters but also the lives of everything in Madison County. Clem Barefield spends most of his opening dialogue speaking about how the people of this county are borderline fanatic and need something to believe in. They are all Christians, but they need something more than traditional faith to believe in for the most part. This leads them to become susceptible to charismatic individuals such as Chambliss. They need something to believe in, something greater than themselves and are willing to go to any length to fulfill that need.

Faith also expresses itself in a personal level as the members of the Hall family, Adelaide and Carson Chambliss all have distinct ways of expressing and viewing their faith in the novel. Carson views his horrific meth lab explosion as a wakeup call from God...