What was the motivation for the mountain men?

Why does anyone rape anyone? They were two sociopathic, inbred *beep* who saw a couple of vulnerable people out in the middle of nowhere and decided to harm them. That's all.

Several of the posters in this thread seem to take it for granted that mountain men raping strangers at gun point is an everyday event. I am somewhat skeptical. Is there any evidence for such a belief?


Scariest words in English: We’re from the federal government and we’re here to help. R. Reagan

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They were bullies and knew they could get away with it, and also it was some kind of power trip for them. There are people who, if they believe they could get away with it, would indulge in their innate sadism and bullying of others.

I'm surprised no one brought up the mountain man's statement about "you look just like a hog" and "I think we got a sow instead of a boar" giving a clear indication these guys fuck anything. I seriously don't think either of them were gay but in such an isolated area, females (or at least females you aren't related too or bored in bed with) are quite rare and they wanted to humiliate them or get even for intruding on their territory. But also think back to the gas station and the other imbreds who were deformed and lacked social skills, etc same principle with the mountain men.

The plot required it

Territorial imperative issues, I imagine, as in "we're the people who really belong here (as in fauna), while you city guys are off your turf and we're gonna show you who's boss here". It never struck me as anything more. Also, these mountain men, backward and retarded as they seem and may well be, are human beings all the same, and this places seems several notches above the true creatures of the wild, whether bears, foxes, rabbits or wolves; and it makes them a hundred times more dangerous, if roused, as they're way smarter than the four legged critters who inhabit the area. Thus they're capable of true sadism; of inflicting pain and humiliation, knowing what they're doing, and getting a big kick out of it. I'm not so sure gayness is an issue in their behavior toward Bobby so much as the pleasure principal.

These wild men of the forest are almost too simple and simpleminded to have much in the way of motive, as most of us understand that word. They're sly, clever and straightforward; and they know enough to not give their game away before the final assault on Bobby and then, almost, Ed. Nor do they have an ounce of subtlety. The city guys do, and their subtlety and overall sophistication is, in the moments of their captivity, no help to them given the kinds of men they're up against. If anything their "knowing", their "understanding", in an empathetic sense, would not provided them with the material they needed to take on the psychopaths who are tormenting them. More likely it would inhibit them, slow down their reactions and, cause them to bungle what actions they do take, as indeed happens later in the film