In her article “The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns”, Sue Matheson almost accurately depicts the characters of Tom Doniphon, Liberty Valance and Rance Stoddard. Within the first few scenes of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, the audience learns the personalities of these characters by observing their actions and appearances. Tom Doniphon is portrayed at the clean-shaven “good guy.” Contrastingly, Liberty Valance, lacking variance in his personal development, also never changes his wardrobe. His bestial personality is concealed under his animal skin clothing and is portrayed through his barbaric swagger, “he simply does not walk like a human being; the outlaw lumbers about like an ape” (895). After witnessing his beating from Valance, the audience becomes aware that Stoddard, without the help of Doniphon, would have never survived in the violent place known as the American frontier. He is portrayed as a more feminine character; dressing in an apron and washing dishes, the audience knows not to confuse him with the two alpha cowboys. Matheson characterizes Stoddard as a greenhorn, “a rather naïve and gullible idealist” who “expects the West to be a place where ‘civilized’ values are respected” (896). Unlike the inhabitants of Shinbone, Stoddard believes the law should be carried out fully and that guns are shot by enemies and should not be used to settle confrontations. In the end he transforms this belief into defending himself with a weapon; therefore, placing “himself outside the law” (896). Stoddard slightly drifts away from his civilized norms when he shoots at Valance.
I disagree with Matheson as she explains the incredible similarities between Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance. Matheson says that they both are the law, their own moral centers, anti-social, manipulative, callous, and remorseless. While all of these attributes may be correct, it is their motives and lifestyles that make them very two different people. Doniphon accomplishes his deeds with goodness in mind. Although he may fight with a gun and be able to live with cold-blooded murder on his conscience, Tom did these things out of the goodness for others. He loved Hallie to the point that he murdered Valance so Stoddard would have the chance to live to marry her. “Doniphon destroys his personal happiness by acting in good faith” (897). Unlike Valance, Doniphon is extremely selfless; he stands in the shadows as Stoddard takes the honor of killing Valance. He is the one responsible for making Shinbone such a thriving town and does not take any of the credit. Matheson categorizes Liberty Valance as a psychopath (892). Although I do not think Doniphon, the heroic alpha cowboy, should be classified in the same category with such a sadistic outlaw; overall Matheson does a good job in capturing the essence of the characters.
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In her article “The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns”, Sue Matheson accurately depicts the characters of Tom Doniphon, Liberty Valance and Ransom Stoddard. Within the first few scenes of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, the audience learns the personalities of these characters by observing their actions and also by their appearance. Tom Doniphon is portrayed at the clean-shaven good guy who “achieves epic stature by accomplishing superhuman deeds and saving ‘civilized’ settlers” (Matheson 889). Lacking variance in his personal development, Liberty Valance never changes his wardrobe or his personality. His bestial personality is concealed under his animal skin clothing; instead it is portrayed through his barbaric swagger, “he simply does not walk like a human being; the outlaw lumbers about like an ape” (895). After witnessing his beating from Valance, the audience becomes aware that Stoddard, without the help of Doniphon, would have never survived on the violent American frontier. He is portrayed as a more feminine character; dressing in an apron and washing dishes, the audience knows not to confuse him with the two alpha cowboys. Matheson characterizes Stoddard as a greenhorn, “a rather naïve and gullible idealist” who “expects the West to be a place where ‘civilized’ values are respected” (896). Stoddard is one of the only people in Shinbone who believes the law should be carried out fully and that guns should not be used to settle confrontations. In the end he reverses this belief by defending himself with a weapon; therefore, placing “himself outside the law” (896). Stoddard slightly drifts away from his civilized norms when he points his gun at Valance.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Matheson as she explains the immense similarities between Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance. Matheson says that they both are the law, their own moral centers, anti-social, manipulative, callous, and remorseless. While all of these attributes may be correct, it is their motives and lifestyles that make them very two different people. Doniphon accomplishes most of his deeds with goodness in mind. While he may fight with a gun and be able to live with cold-blooded murder on his conscience, Tom did these things out of the goodness for others. He loved Hallie to the point that he murdered Valance so Stoddard would have the chance to live to marry her. “Doniphon destroys his personal happiness by acting in good faith” (Matheson 897). Unlike Valance, Doniphon is extremely selfless; he stands in the shadows as Stoddard takes the honor of killing the outlaw Valance. He is the one responsible for making Shinbone such a thriving town and does not take any of the credit. Speaking of the psychopaths, Matheson states that “ironically their distorted personalities, which disable the socially, enable them professionally” (892). Valance performs very well at his crime filled tasks of murder, beatings and robbery. I do not think Doniphon, the heroic alpha cowboy should be classified in the same category as a sadistic outlaw.