Why do they have to be barefoot?
In A Quiet Place, the characters are always barefoot. Why can't they wear soft soled shoes? It seems dangerous to be barefoot (you could step on a nail sticking out of a step), and it would get too cold. The characters are wearing sweaters, so it must be cold outside.
Best Answer
Shoes make more noise than you think. Leather shoes tend to creak when you walk, as the leather expands when you're on the balls of your feet. Sneakers, on certain surfaces like hardwood floors, screech if you halt your step (ever listen to a Basketball game?). Bare feet also give you better traction and a better feel for your surroundings. In short, there are a multitude of reasons why you shouldn't wear shoes under conditions where the slightest noise could get you killed.
I don't disagree that possibly some sort of moccasin could be advantageous, but for some unknown reason the family the story revolved around opted to simply go barefoot.
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Why is it important to be barefoot?
The act of walking barefoot is a key part of grounding or earthing\u2014aka physically connecting your body with the Earth. By being barefoot, the theory goes, you're able to pick up (and benefit from) electrons from the ground. These alleged benefits include improved sleep, reduced pain and inflammation, and more.Why do they not wear shoes in the quiet place?
The Abbotts go barefoot in order to avoid attracting the attention of the alien monsters that hunt by sound.Should humans be barefoot?
A literature review from 2017 evaluated the long-term effects of habitually walking or running barefoot, and found no difference in relative injury rates compared to shoe-wearing folks. However, walking or running barefoot did appear to result in less foot deformities.Why I Almost Never Wear Shoes - The Many Benefits of Walking Barefoot
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Answer 2
So that they know when they're about to step on something that could be noisy, and to save on the (noisy) washing of socks.
In an IGN video video below, John Krasinski notes a couple of reasons for the barefeet:
Very good observation [that the characters are barefoot]. One of the ideas that we had in the writing of the script was that in order to stay silent, they not only don't wear shoes so that they can feel when they're about to step on something that would make noise, but not wearing socks is really just a function of 'How would they wash them daily?'. Cuz that just seems like it would be all for not.
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