Fallen Man Summary
Tony Hillerman

Fallen Man Summary

Hillerman works through three important themes in the novel. The first of these is indicated in the title, Fallen Man.

Two men fall in the novel, Hal Breedlove, who fell to his death a decade earlier, and Eldon Demott, who leaps to his death near the novel's conclusion. The term "fallen," however, refers not only to the physical events. It also refers to the theological concept of the fallen condition of the human being due to the sin of Adam and Eve. Both Hal and Eldon lived in a kind of paradise, the Lazy B ranch, which they each loved in their own way. Both fell from grace and could no longer enjoy the property. Hal did so by attempting to destroy the ranch by selling its mineral rights in order to make enough money to maintain a lavish life style filled with personal airplanes and expensive cars...

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