In Sue Matheson's The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne's Westerns, Matheson presents the character of Liberty Valance as a horrible unappealing man who is heartless. A typical description of a classic western villain. "He simply does not walk like a human being; the outlaw lumbers about like an ape with his silver headed cat-o'-nine-tails while flouting all that "civilized" America holds dear(895)." The way that the character of Valance walks, dresses and speaks are all a part of the "hardboiled" western film. These characteristics of Valance fit perfectly into the character which he portrays as he is an arrogant jerk who runs things in the west that way that he sees fit and at the same time the laws just do not apply to him. "I'll teach you law-Western law" This concept of the western law does not just pertain to Valance as it also pertains to Doniphan. They both believe that a man deals with things himself and in his own way or as Matheson states "In the west, might is right(895)." The difference between Doniphan and Valance is that Valance uses the law to his advantage and he sees the west as his territory to thrive and be the big bad bully. Doniphan displays his greater moral belief when he shoots Valance and does not want any vredit for it, he only wants Stoddard to do great things for the West and make it a better place. This act of selflessness is very uncommon for the alpha-male cowboy as we dont often see John Wayne's characters looking out for everybody else. Usually it is just people close to him or a certain mission he is on. In this particular circumstance he decides to leave the fate of the West in Stoddard's hands.
Matheson refers to the character of Liberty Valance as a beast because of the way that he walks, talks and acts. At the same time he walks around in everyday normal American male clothing which does not relate very well to the way that he behaves. You would expect a man who acts in such a horrible way to look dirty and his clothing to be worn and ugly. This is a case where we see the personality of a character hidden by his appearance. At first sight Liberty Valance would look like a normal man but in reality he was the complete opposite.
The three alpha males in this film, Valance, Doniphan and Stoddard are all completely different characters. Valance and Doniphan are alpha-males through their agressive behavior and their ways of the west. Although Valance is a much more cold-hearted alpha-male than Doniphan, that does not separate the two that much. Doniphan is still a man who lived by the rules of the west and the land and he also lives a life of hardships in the west. Stoddard on the other hand is a completely different type of alpha-male. He shows that he is a strong man multiple times in the movie including when he stands up for the woman that Valance is attempting to ron and also the fact that he isnt scared to come back to a town which he left behind him with a difficult past many years prior. Out of the all three of the men, in the end Stoddard is the one who is left standing and has become very successfull. Throughout all of this it is important to keep in mind that without the help of Doniphan, his life may never have been.
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