In Sue Matheson’s article The West – Hardboiled: Adaptions of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns, Matheson assesses Tom Doniphan and Liberty Valance as characters with very similar qualities and beliefs but go about their business in very different ways. As Matheson notes in her article, “Doniphan destroys his personal happiness by acting in good faith.” (Matheson, 897) This clearly states that Doniphan has done committed a selfless act on the behalf of someone else, something that a selfish outlaw like Liberty Valance would never do. However, as Matheson says, “Doniphon…like Valance…exhibits a highly antisocial and disordered personality.” (Matheson, 896) This point is confirmed in the film during Tom’s first interaction with Rance when he calls Rance a “tenderfoot” for refusing to carry a gun even after being robbed of all his worldly possessions before arriving in Shinbone. Clearly, while the morals, or lacks thereof, of Doniphan and Valance are much different, the ways they feel about the law are very similar. They both believe that “Out here a man settles his own problems.”
Although the characters of Valance and Doniphan are considered to be the alpha male cowboys of this film, I think that Matheson would argue that Rance Stoddard grows into an even greater alpha male cowboy than either of the other two. While Rance starts the movie as someone with a fear of carrying a gun, he develops into someone who will do what needs to be done at any time. Sure, he doesn’t have the marksman skills of Valance or Doniphan, but there is another thing that he doesn’t have that they do: Fear. Rance first displays a kernel of fearlessness when he stands up to Valance near the beginning of the movie when he is threatening a woman in the same car as he. Later, he displays that same courage during the gunfight with Valance, a fight in which he knows he will more than likely die. Finally, Rance is about to return to the east when he is nominated to Congress, not out of fear, but because he feels he does not belong there. He returns once Doniphan comes and makes him come to his senses. Liberty on the other hand shows that he fears death very much when he and his two lackeys back down from Doniphan and Pompey on multiple occasions. He is too afraid that he will lose try his luck against two other men, a fight in which the odds are on his side. Though Doniphan is not afraid of death, he is fearful of something else. He is too afraid to ask Hallie to marry him. He says throughout the movie that she is “his girl” to other people but never directly mentions it to her. This can only lead one to believe that he is afraid of what will happen if he expresses his feelings towards her. Thus, Ransom Stoddard overtakes Tom Doniphan as both the alpha male cowboy of Shinbone and of Hallie’s heart.
In Sue Matheson’s article The West – Hardboiled: Adaptions of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns, Matheson assesses Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance as characters with very similar qualities and beliefs but go about their business in very different ways. As Matheson notes in her article, “Doniphon destroys his personal happiness by acting in good faith.” (Matheson, 897) This clearly states that Doniphon has done committed a selfless act on the behalf of someone else, something that a selfish outlaw like Liberty Valance would never do. However, as Matheson says, “Doniphon…like Valance…exhibits a highly antisocial and disordered personality.” (Matheson, 896) This point is confirmed in the film during Tom’s first interaction with Rance when he calls Rance a “tenderfoot” for refusing to carry a gun even after being robbed of all his worldly possessions before arriving in Shinbone. Clearly, while the morals, or lacks thereof, of Doniphon and Valance are much different, the ways they feel about the law are very similar. They both believe that “Out here a man settles his own problems.”
ReplyDeleteAlthough the characters of Valance and Doniphon are considered to be the alpha male cowboys of this film, I think that Matheson would argue that Rance Stoddard grows into an even greater alpha male in general than either of the other two. While Rance starts the movie as someone with a fear of carrying a gun, he develops into someone who will do what needs to be done at any time. Sure, he doesn’t have the marksman skills of Valance or Doniphon, but there is another thing that he doesn’t have that they do: Fear. Rance first displays a kernel of fearlessness when he stands up to Valance near the beginning of the movie when he is threatening a woman in the same car as he. Later, he displays that same courage during the gunfight with Valance, a fight in which he knows he will more than likely die. Finally, Rance is about to return to the east when he is nominated to Congress, not out of fear, but because he feels he does not belong there. He returns once Doniphon comes and makes him come to his senses. Liberty on the other hand shows that he fears death very much when he and his two lackeys back down from Doniphon and Pompey on multiple occasions. He is too afraid that he will lose try his luck against two other men, a fight in which the odds are on his side. Though Doniphon is not afraid of death, he is fearful of something else. He is too afraid to ask Hallie to marry him. He says throughout the movie that she is “his girl” to other people but never directly mentions it to her. This can only lead one to believe that he is afraid of what will happen if he expresses his feelings towards her. Thus, Ransom Stoddard overtakes Tom Doniphon as both the alpha male of Shinbone and of Hallie’s heart.