The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Matheson, in The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns, does a good job of describing the three alpha males from the movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. All three are extremely different characters but all have an alpha male complex. She describes Liberty Valance as a “severely disabled psychopath” (Matheson, 892) because of the way he can be a cold blooded killer and go on with life as if nothing happened, which is what he does time and time again. For example when he robs the widow, who most would agree is a horrible target. Rance Stoddard (another alpha male) on the other hand, is portrayed as a more innocent character. When he comes to Shinbone he has little understanding of what it is like to live in a community with no laws. He has to learn that “In Shinbone, the individual does not enforce the law; he is the law” (Matheson, 896). His innocence and kindness relates directly to a quote from earlier in Matheson’s article “the dirtier their faces, the darker their hearts” (Matheson, 892). Stoddard is the cleanest man I have seen in a western yet with his cleanly shaven face and suit and tie every day. This means he has must have a good heart too which he exemplifies throughout the movie. Continuing with this quote, Tom Doniphon, the final alpha male in the movie, is much less clean. He wears the animal skin and although he always has a cleanly shaven face, he is definitely a more rugged character than Stoddard, in turn giving him a “darker heart”. Doniphon tries to help Stoddard live in the west by telling him to always hold a gun and that problems will not be solved by written law, only by the gun. Matheson describes Doniphon, “who is even tougher than Valance” (Matheson, 896). Doniphon is in control and knows what he has to do to survive and presses this opinion on Stoddard so he too will survive. Doniphon can kill a man without a problem but does not have the same attitude towards it as Liberty Valance.

I do agree with the larger portion of Matheson’s article, but her description of Doniphon and his similarities to Liberty Valance I do not find to be completely accurate. Matheson says, “Like Valance, Doniphon is callous, remorseless, and manipulative” (Matheson, 897). Although Doniphon may be these things when it comes to killing another man, I do not think he lives his life entirely without a care and without remorse. His feelings towards Hallie are a direct representation of care for another person, and what he does, in terms of letting her be with Stoddard instead of himself just goes to show that he does care. She explains the reasons for why he kills Valance and the underlying reason is because he cares about Hallie and her well being. Matheson also explains the way Doniphon pushes Stoddard to be a better man because Hallie needs a good man. He may not have an ounce of remorse after killing Valance, but he is not a completely unremorseful, careless person.