a place that the audience wants to return.
             Sound plays a key role in developing conflict and contrast in Matewan. One audio element that plays an important role is the vocals in the film. Volume, tone and accent are used to distinguish characters background and association. Most of the miners have strong country accents. They speak at a normal volume and tone but their grammar is often horrible and their words have a southern twang. This portrays their poor working class status. Most probably have very little formal education, they are simple and hardworking and only want to provide a decent living for themselves and their families. Joe Kenehan on the other hand is an outsider; his accent is not traceable to one area of the country. This is in keeping with the idea that he has traveled all over, doing everything from prison time in Leavenworth, Kansas to helping set up unions all over the place. He has a very soft, smooth tone of voice, portraying him as kind, caring, and formally educated. Kevin Tighe as Hickey by far has the most defined vocal characteristics in the film. He often speaks at a low volume with very menacing tones. For example when Sid Hatfield forces him and his men to stop evicting some of the miners he comes up very close whispers to Hatfield that he will be unable to win and that he should not even attempt to try. He also uses his low, sinister tone when he threatens Danny after he over heard the plot to get Kenehan killed. His voice is just the beginning. Hickey also has many other characteristics that build on his evil nature that will be touched later in the analysis.
             The music is another element of sound that blends beautifully throughout the entire film. Sayles wrote most of the folk songs that are heard during the movie. "There is fire in our heart, and fire in our soul, but there ain't gonna be no fire in the hole." This is a line from the first song we hear, a folk song...