Red River SH

In Red River, we see one true alpha male cowboy and a sidekick. Dunson is our alpha male for a number of reasons. His adopted son, Matt Garth, shows some characteristics of an alpha male cowboy but also shows characteristic s that prove he is not.

First, Thomas Dunson is a man set on his duty. Once he has his mind set on his duty, everything else revolves around it. His moral compass, while quite skewed to the objective viewer, revolves around his duty and mission, and this is what he makes his decision based off of. In her article The West Harboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns, Sue Matheson relates this idea to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. When speaking of Stoddard’s devotion to virtue ethics, she says “Until he understands that out West he is his own moral center, he cannot be considered a real man.” (903)Nobody can waiver him from his duty, as we see him even leave the woman that loves him, giving up love for his dream of starting a ranch. Nadine Groot, Dunson’s longtime companion, tells the head of the initial wagon train: “Colonel, He’s a might set man, once his mind’s made up, even you can’t change it.” He is also a master of his domain, the land and the cattle. When he finds the land that will be his future ranch, he says “It belongs to me.” When a representative of the current ‘owner’ of the land challenges this, he shoots him. He’ll take what he wants to fulfill his mission and whoever gets in his way is wrong (and probably going to die). He says he’ll brand enough cattle to feed the entire country. He masters his domain by branding it his, even if it doesn’t initially belong to him. When the concern about bandits comes up in discussion with the other cowboys, he says flat out, “nobody’s going to take my cattle.” He is the clear leader of the cattle drive, gives orders and expects them to be obeyed. He does not accept complaints from his cowboys, and will not change his mind about going to Missouri, even though the road is exceptionally dangerous. He expects them to obey him because he carries his gun and is the best (and not hesitant) to use it. He is obsessed with the concrete, when Kansas is discussed he asks every man, “Did he say he saw it?” He knows there’s a market in Missouri, and won’t rely on rumors, hearsay, and more importantly, the word of another man. He is clearly the law, and states it. He shoots those who betray his agreement and threatens to hang them. He is so obsessed with men going against his will, giving up on the drive, and leaving, that he loses sleep, to the point of insanity. He drives his men to desert him in the desert. Ultimately, we find his power comes from his gun. Matheson says of the power of the gun in the western: “Only the strongest and the most ruthless survive in the noir frontier, those who…draw a gun faster than anyone else.” (891) She also says: “in the West, might is right.” (895) As soon as that power is stripped (when Matt shoots his gun away and injures his shooting hand), he is rendered impotent. He loses all his power and his herd. Even without his power, he continues to act as the alpha male cowboy. Devoted to duty and his mission (as well as his own moral compass), he vows to kill his friends and his adopted son for deserting him. “He is like something that can’t be moved,” Tess says when speaking of Dunson’s intent to kill Matt. The inability of women to change his mind also shows his character as an alpha male cowboy.

Matt Garth, although showing some leadership and alpha male characteristics, ultimately falls short of this distinction because he is “soft.” Like the alpha male cowboy, he wanders the plains in the years between the start of the ranch and the cattle drive. He shows bravery in standing up to Dunson throughout the movie. He finishes the job. However, he shows that he is clearly not the alpha male cowboy by other actions. First, he acts by morals based on set values instead of only his mission. He vocalizes when he thinks Dunson is wrong. His other actions show he is not an alpha male. He takes orders from Dunson constantly. He does not speak back to him, even when he does not agree with the order. He shows trust in the beginning of the movie, and gives up his gun to Dunson. He lets Dunson make his brand on the cattle, and does not put up much of a fight. Dunson tells him he hasn’t earned it yet. He’s not yet a man. He also shows fear; he’s spooked by the coyotes and by the fog. Cherry Valance tells him, “You’re fast with that gun, but your heart’s soft.” He shows his soft heart by caring for the men, worrying about them being tired, and being distracted from the task at hand. He risks the drive to take the men to meet women and gamble with the wagon train. When the wagon train is in trouble, he also risks the drive to rescue them. He is tempted by the Tess, and ultimately gives in to her, and talks to her, rendering him vulnerable by showing his emotions. In West of Everything, Jane Tompkins classifies this as specifically feminine: “The position represented by language, always associated with women, religion, and culture…is deliberately proven wrong…because the genre is in revolt against a Victorian culture where the ability to manipulate language confers power, the Western equates power with “not-language.” And not-language it equates with being male.” (55)