Bonnie & Clyde… What images pop immediately in your head at the sound of those names? Do you think of heartless thugs? Notorious bank robbers? Cold-blooded murderers? Or do you think of their wild and crazy romance? Maybe you even think combination all of that? The fact that they conjure up such a wild variety of images is part of their continued appeal. Books have been written about them, movies have told their story…but what, really, is their true story?
Bonnie and Clyde are now shrouded in legend and in what surviving first-person accounts exist. However, there are always two versions of every story. It depends on your perspective and personal bents that help you shape the opinions and beliefs you hold. In other words, you will find what you are looking for, be that positive or negative.
One thing that stood out to me as I read about the duo is their beginnings. Bonnie was a smart young woman, a good student, very likable, and a hard worker. Clyde was also very likable and charming, well thought of by employers in his early days. You can read more about Bonnie & Clyde in my earlier posts, Bonnie & Clyde in Missouri: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
So where did the switch flip? Was it simply a series of choices? A desire to be able to buy nice things in a time of great poverty, or even be able to have two coins to rub together. Was it greed that lead to their crime spree? Perhaps they wanted to live the high life and experience the nice clothes, fancy cars, and lavish meals. Was it more of a Robin Hood philosophy? The deep poverty they lived in could have easily given Clyde the desire to rob from the rich, or what they perceived as the rich, to give to the poor. Or was it more than that? Did they have help on their path towards a life of crime?
Before I dive into this train of thought let me pause here…I know that both Bonnie and Clyde committed terrible acts, they hurt and killed innocent people, they broke the law in numerous towns and states. Their wave of destruction should not be glossed over, they did some terrible things and destroyed many lives. They fully deserved to be punished by the law. I am not saying they are poor innocents. I do want to raise the question, however, did someone’s pre-judgment of them, particularly of Clyde, give them a push towards a life of lawlessness. Could it have all gone the other way?
Clyde was the younger brother of a petty thief. His brother Buck was building quite a reputation in the small town they lived in for his crimes. In fact, in an excerpt from the book “The True Story of Bonnie and Clyde” written by Bonnie’s mother, Emma Parker, and Clyde’s older and closest sister, Nell Barrow Cowan sheds some light on the story. The passage is written from the perspective of Clyde’s sister.
“Neither did I take too seriously the events which occurred just before Christmas of that year. Buck took all the blame and Buck was the one I bawled out. We hadn’t much money, of course, and Buck wanted some cash for the holidays. I’ll never know whether or not Clyde really had anything to do with this. All I do know is that Buck had the back of the car full of turkeys, and Clyde was with him when the officers caught them. They were arrested and taken to jail. Here Buck assumed all the blame and got a week’s sentence. Clyde was allowed to go.
Everything would have been all right if it hadn’t been Clyde’s second offense against the law, and that Buck, who was notorious for stealing, had been up several times previous to this for petty thievery. The officers began classing the Barrow boys together, and every time Buck did something, they took Clyde down as a matter of course, ever though they turned him loose each time. This began to make Clyde resentful of the law, and disgusted with their methods. He complained to me several times that just because Buck stole was no sign he did, and that he wished the smart cops would realize the fact.”
The True Story of Bonnie and Clyde- As told by Emma Parker and Nell Barrow Cowan- pg 36
I read this and it makes me sad. I know that this is written by a family member and it may be a sanitized version of the truth, painted over a bit to make Clyde look better than he was…but what if even a tiny part is true? What if the attitude of others in that time helped Clyde form a perception of himself that launched him into his life of crime? If they think it…it must be true. I can imagine it would create a sense of hopelessness, apathy, and a great distrust in the legal system. Did the pre-judgments of a few lead to the creation of an outlaw?
It does little good to try to ponder the line of thinking of people long ago, to try to guess their mindsets and reasoning, especially when you can’t ask direct questions and hear their side of the story. However, the past can be beneficial to modern-day life. We can always learn from the stories of others, yes, even from Bonnie and Clyde. Here are a few things that the history of Bonnie and Clyde taught me.
1. Opinions are not facts.
I think a lot of things. I have opinions on everything from colors I like to the foods I don’t like. I need to remember, however, that my opinions are not facts. What I think is not always right, kind, or even words that need to be spoken out loud. Opinions are simply how I feel about a topic. These opinions are based on my viewpoints, personal experiences, and even the mood I am in at the time. And bizarre enough…opinions can change!
I don’t want to go too far away from this point, there are things that are facts, based on the laws of our land and rules we all live by. Just because you are of the opinion that speed limits are stupid doesn’t give you free rein to drive as fast as you would like. Laws and rules have consequences if you break them. If you touch a hot stove, you get burned. If you drive too fast, you get a speeding ticket. We all have laws to follow and rules to obey in life. I am referring to the things that are opinion-based, how we think or feel about something, that we mistake as if it was a law. A line of thinking that shouts “I want my opinion to be your fact.”
Too often, we share our opinion with that line of thinking. In fact, we can argue and push our opinions and get really upset/frustrated/angry when our thoughts are not shared with the masses.
“But it’s my opinion and my opinion is right!”
Case in point, I hate black licorice…in fact I really hate it. My husband, Caleb, loves it and will go out of his way to buy it at a store. I can have my opinion about black licorice all day long, and I can argue some pretty strong points on the subject, but it will never change Caleb’s feelings about it. My opinion is not his fact, it is simply my thoughts about a type of food. You can take my silly licorice example and fill in your own blank, maybe it is politics, a sports team, thoughts about a business, etc. No matter what you put in the blank, when we think our opinions should be someone else’s fact it can affect how we treat those around us.
2. Judgements have power.
When we get so stuck in our opinions and in our mindsets, our way is the right way and only way type of thinking, that can easily distort how we treat people. We can judge them harshly in our viewpoint because they aren’t like us, don’t think like us, don’t feel/look/sound like us.
Using the licorice again, if I got so stuck in the opinion that black licorice is gross and then jump to “it’s gross so the people who eat it must be gross too” way to thinking…I am now in very dangerous territory. I have now judged an entire group of people simply because they did not agree with me. I have categorized them negatively about something that really doesn’t matter. Judgements have power. When we broaden our focus beyond licorice into the realm of bigger matters, we can see how scary this can be. Because you don’t ___________, you must be _________. Or because you ____________, you are ______________. What if the thinking of a few changed the course of Clyde’s life? What if your thinking and judgement of someone has the same power? Whose life are you negatively affecting with your judgement of them?
3. This is some good news, the story isn’t over…
The story of Bonnie and Clyde has ended. In fact, it ended much like Bonnie wrote in her journal.
“Some day they’ll go down together;
They’ll bury them side by side;
To few it’ll be grief-
To the law a relief-
But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.”
The True Story of Bonnie and Clyde- page 169
Bonnie and Clyde died in a firestorm of bullets on a dirt road in Louisiana. Their story ended on May 23, 1934. To be fair, with their history of running from the police, there was really only one way their story could end and both Bonnie and Clyde knew it.
Your story, my story, isn’t over yet. We still have things to accomplish. We still have things to do. Your today does not have to look like your yesterday, it can be radically different, but it starts with a mindset shift.
4. Words are powerful.
Everyday we think and speak countless numbers of words. We speak them to ourselves and about ourselves, and we speak them to and about other people. Words can build and words can tear down. Words are powerful. A few of my favorite verses from the Bible talk about the power of our words.
Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.
Proverbs 15:4 (MSG)
Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit–you choose.
Proverbs 18:21 (MSG)
That always gets me…with my words I can bring life or I can bring death. I can help or I can hurt. I never want to be so locked in my own opinions or my own mindset that I speak hate, speak to wound, speak to kill their spirit. I can remember with great clarity crushing words spoken over me…someone shared an opinion about what they thought my life should look like and I took it as fact. It, for a season, shaped my decisions and actions. Maybe this is why the story of Bonnie and Clyde strikes such a chord with me. What do I want to do with my words? How do I want to sound? What do I want to be like?
- As for me, I want my life to reflect Christ, to become more like Him and less like me.
- I want to speak life into the lives of those in my world.
- I want to build up and not tear down.
- I want to show kindness to others and not let my opinions or way of thinking become a barrier.
- I want to learn from others around me.
- I want to show grace and compassion in all I do.
We are all in charge over our thoughts and the words we speak, and the words we choose not to speak. What if your words could change someone’s day for the better? What if your words spoke life over someone and it changed their life?
We can’t go back in time and try to change any of Bonnie and Clyde’s story, but maybe we can change the world of someone around us…maybe someone who lives in our house or sits next to us at work. Maybe we can let go of our opinion and our pre-judgements and relax and bit. Maybe it really is ok that someone likes black licorice?
Until next time,
Kimberly
What are your thoughts? Do you have a story of when words impacted your life either for the better or the worse? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to buy Kimberly a cup of coffee.